Chinese capitalism in Southeast Asia

2010 ◽  
pp. 10-25
Author(s):  
Jomo K S
Keyword(s):  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Chinese Capitalism

The Studies of Chinese Diasporas in Colonial Southeast Asia: Theories, Concepts, and Histories

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 225-263 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anh Sy Huy Le
Keyword(s):  
Southeast Asia ◽  
English Language ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Survival Strategies ◽  
Kinship Networks ◽  
Field Assessment ◽  
The Social ◽  
New Research ◽  
Chinese Capitalism ◽  
Paradigm Shifting

Abstract This article provides a state-of-the-field assessment of a large body of English-language scholarship on Chinese migration to colonial Southeast Asia. It first explores the theoretical literature that grapples with the conceptual utility of “diaspora” as well as the attempted periodization and identities. It then turns the analytical gaze to the paradigm-shifting debates on transnational Chinese capitalism wherein the studies of networks, enterprises, and commerce in the age of empire have questioned the validity of “Chinese-ness” in dominant approaches to Chinese businesses and capital circulations. Finally, it engages with a growing scholarship on the social and cultural histories of Chinese diasporas that captures the diversity of their experiences, family and kinship networks, survival strategies, and Chinese encounters with the colonial powers. Rather than exhaustive, the article selectively focuses on the most productive areas of research that have preoccupied major scholarly debates in the field and hopes to shed light on new research directions.

scholarly journals The Anthropology of Chinese Capitalism in Southeast Asia: From Culture to Institution?

2013 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michiel Verver ◽  
Heidi Dahles
Keyword(s):  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Southern China ◽  
Dominant Role ◽  
Theoretical Concept ◽  
Business Success ◽  
Ethnic Chinese ◽  
Chinese Business ◽  
Ethnic Affiliation ◽  
Chinese Capitalism

This article outlines the contours of the scholarly debate on ‘Chinese capitalism’ in Southeast Asia. This multidisciplinary domain is business- and entrepreneurship-oriented, and concerns the ethnic Chinese who have migrated from Southern China to Southeast Asia and have come to play a dominant role in the region’s economies over the centuries. The debate revolves around the competing assumptions that ethnic Chinese business success in Southeast Asia relies either on ethnic affiliation and shared cultural values, or on strategic deployment of resources, power relations and institutional co-optation. We distinguish four perspectives on ‘Chinese capitalism’, and argue that the concept of culture holds the debate hostage in the divide between essentialism and anti-essentialism. The promise of an ‘anthropology of Chinese capitalism’ resides in matters of perspective, therefore, rather than in the theoretical concept of culture itself. We advocate a liaison amoureuse between business anthropology and institutional theory.

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