What is it about?

Divergent responses to the calls of Chinese nationalism from the diaspora in Singapore

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Why is it important?

Most existing studies emphasize the contribution of overseas Chinese to mainland Chinese nationalism. This paper however elaborates how Chinese nationalism would in turn become a business strategy for overseas Chinese to make profits. It engages in both the sociologist Mark Granovetter's thesis of social embeddedness and historian Prasenjit Duara's "transnationalism of Chinese overseas." The research findings shed light to understand how social cleavage among migrant merchants would transplant in diaspora communities, while homeland nationalism would become embedded in the operation of migration networks.

Perspectives

I completed most of my archival research of this paper at Cornell Library between 2001 and 2002. During that time, digitalization of historical newspapers was not popular. I browsed most archives from microfilm or microfiche machines. I could still remember the excitement of reading the materials, about a country that I have not yet visited but felt very familiar with.

Dr Huei-Ying Kuo
Johns Hopkins University

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This page is a summary of: Rescuing Businesses through Transnationalism: Embedded Chinese Enterprise and Nationalist Activities in Singapore in the 1930s Great Depression, Enterprise & Society, March 2006, Cambridge University Press,
DOI: 10.1017/s146722270000375x.
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