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Current Research

In a recent open access publication in the Journal of Contemporary Asia, Heike Holbig and Bertram Lang investigate the impact of the Chinese NGO legislation of 2016 on interaction in international civil societies. Drawing on interviews as well as theories of institutional change, the authors look beyond the mere implementation of the NGO law, drawing up four scenarios of long-term developments of Chinese policy with regard to international NGOs and foundations. In particular, their analysis shows that this policy goes well beyond the regulation of inner-Chinese activities and that new forms of politically controlled cooperation with civil societies are developing within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative. While the NGO law affects mainly organisations in the US, Hong Kong and some Western European countries, it is primarily actors in countries of the global south such as Nepal or Cambodia, countries which China is closely allied with, for whom these new formats are of particular importance.

Involved IZO Researcher(s):

Prof. Dr. Heike Holbig

Political Science with a Focus on Chinese and East Asian Area Studies

Dr. Bertram Lang

Academic Coordinator
(IZO and CEDITRAA)

IZO Events

Nov 25 2021
18:15

Public Lecture on the Occasion of the IZO Advisory Board Meeting

Guest Lecture by Prof. Björn Alpermann on China’s Xinjiang Policy

In recent years the situation in China’s north-western region of Xinjian has received increasing international attention. Reports about mass internments of Uigurs and other ethnic groups in re-education camps, about forced labour, forced sterilisation and other violations of human rights have dominated the headlines and have put a strain on the relations between China and its critics. The Chinese government, on the other hand, justifies its actions as a fight against terrorism, Islamist extremism and ethnic separatism. The lecture discusses the different views on the basis of a detailed study of source material.
Due to the pandemic situation, Björn Alpermann’s lecture will be delivered via Zoom.

Board meetings

This year's meeting of the Scientific Advisory Board 2021 took place via video conference due to the pandemic. On November 25th, members of the Board of Directors presented the current work at the IZO to the Advisory Board and discussed in particular questions of the future strategic orientation of the IZO in a rapidly changing research environment for regional studies related to East Asia.

Announcements

Policy consultation and direct public interaction with political decision makers play an important role in foregrounding the social relevance of Chinese and Asian Studies. It is for this reason that the IZO's Academic Coordinator, Bertram Lang, makes regular contributions to policy journals and to studies conducted by NGOs and public institutions.

When a controversial passage about non-profit organisations in the draft EU-China investment agreement became public in March 2021, the Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament commissioned Bertram Lang to submit a study on the role of civil society in Europe's policy on China. In this study Mr Lang takes a critical look at the position of the European Commission and the European member states and makes specific suggestions on how expert knowledge in civil societies might be better integrated into European foreign and trade policy, so as to emphasize the European interest in an international order endorsed by a multiplicity of actors and to stress European values.

In a webinar chaired by Christina Sadeler on 8 December 2021, Bertram Lang and Reinhard Bütikofer, Member of the European Parliament and China expert of the Green Party, discussed the study's central arguments as well as options for future action with regard to the investment agreement which is currently on halt.

Addendum: The webinar is now freely accessible here.

Download link to the study:

IZO Events

On 29 November 2021 Professor Barry Naughton, chair of Chinese International Affairs at the UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy, took part in two events organised by IZO at the Forschungskolleg Humanwissenschaften in Bad Homburg. Under the title "China Summer 2021: From Industrial Policy to Comprehensive Steerage?" Naughton discussed the spate of far-reaching regulatory measures and radical reforms launched in recent months by the leadership of the Communist Party of the People's Republic of China.

In the afternoon, following a discussion with IZO research staff and guests, Prof. Naughton was available for the many questions of junior researchers from the recently established IZO Early Career Researcher Network. This opportunity for an informal exchange of ideas was eagerly seized upon and the discussion about Naughton's research work as well as the future perspectives of research about and in China could easily have exceeded the three hours that had been allocated for this.

We would like to extend our thanks to Barry Naughton for this inspirational debate and we look forward to further meetings of the IZO ECR network in the months ahead. 

IZO Events

Dear friends of the IZO,

We are pleased to announce Prof. Barry Naughton's talk on “China Summer 2021: From Industrial Policy to Comprehensive Steerage?“ which is to be delivered on Friday, 29 October. Barry Naughton holds the So Kwan Lok Chair of Chinese International Affairs at UC San Diego and for many years he has been one of the most eminent political economists studying the People's Republic of China. It is his work on Chinese industrial policy which is of particular interest and relevance at the present moment since he was one of the few American economists who from an early date recognized a new management approach in Xi's economic policy and put it in a theoretical context.

This event will be in two parts. It takes place at the Forschungskolleg Humanwissenschaften in Bad Homburg.

In the morning between 9.00 and 12.00 am there will be a lecture by Prof. Naughton, followed by an extensive discussion in workshop format. Because of limited space and current hygiene regulations it is advisable to book in advance (izo@uni-frankfurt.de).

In the afternoon between 2.15 and 5 pm the first exclusive IZO Early Career Researcher Network event will take place. Network members will have an opportunity to exchange ideas with Barry Naughton about his latest book, The Rise of China's Industrial Policy, and also more generally about career prospects and research conditions in the Chinese context. Doctoral students and post-docs who are interested in participating are invited to contact Bertram Lang (izo@uni-frankfurt.de) and to apply for membership in the network. 

Please note that in the Grosser Salon (large hall) we cannot space out the seats sufficiently. Participants have therefore to comply with the “2G rule". Access will be granted only on production of a valid vaccination pass or proof of full recovery from a Covid infection, and it requires prior registration in writing (first name, name, address or phone number).


We look forward to your participation and hope for a lively debate!

Current Research

Just like IZO brings together East and Southeast Asian Studies in Frankfurt, academic networks “on the ground" in East and Southeast Asia are increasingly cooperating across the region. An example is the new journal INContext, which is a collaborative journal bringing together the Korean Association for Public Sector Translation and Interpretation (KAPTI), the Language and Intercultural Studies Institute (LISI), Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), Indonesia, and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU). For their inaugural issue, they asked the IZO member Arndt Graf to contribute an article, and he was also invited as member of the Editorial Board of the new journal.


Abstract
Before the Covid-19 pandemic deeply impacted the economies and societies of Southeast Asia, Malaysia had achieved many of the goals formulated in the so-called “Vision 2020" during the era of Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohamad (1981-2003). As this long-term development program emphasized strongly on knowledge society (k-society), knowledge economy (k-economy) and Information and Computer Technology (ICT), one important legacy of this era was the establishment of numerous excellent academic programs, including in technological disciplines. The post-Mahathir administrations since the early 2000s built on this asset and successfully transformed the country's Higher Education sector further, so that it attracted hundreds of thousands of international students from the early 2000s until the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis in early 2020. This paper examines the linguistic and cultural implications of Malaysia's emerging role as hub of both international Higher Education and Industry 4.0.


Announcements

Oct 8 2021
09:00

Winter Semester 2021/22, Forschungskolleg Humanwissenschaften

Lecture series Sinophone Classicism

During the winter semester 2021-22 Professor Zhivi Yang (Chinese Studies) will organized the lecture series “Sinophone Classicism" in cooperation with the Forschungskolleg Humanwissenschaften in Bad Homburg.


About the lecture series:
In recent years, literary and cultural works that evoke the cultural memories of classical Chinese traditions are gaining popularity in the global Sinophone space and cyberspace. From literary to visual culture, from pop music to fashion, from state policies to daily rituals, these classicist articulations present Chineseness as complicated, multifaceted, multilingual, and cross-cultural. The Forschungskolleg Humanwissenschaften is dedicating the lecture series »Sinophone Classicism: Chinese Cultural Memories in a Global Space« to exploring these contemporary forms of expression. We invite prominent scholars, writers, and artists to present case studies from their research or to reflect upon their aesthetic practices. The lecture series is conceptualized and organized by Zhiyi Yang, Professor of Sinology at Goethe University, who is currently Goethe Fellow at the Forschungskolleg Humanwissenschaften.

Current Research

Abstract: In line with the increasing significance of the role of transnational migration in healthcare provision—especially in the West—slightly over 11,000 nurses and nurse assistants from South Korea moved as “guest workers” (Gastarbeiter) to the former West Germany mainly between the 1960s and the 1970s. This study explores the role of emotions in the professional practice of nursing care. Particular attention is paid to gendered and racialized aspects of the emotional labor carried out by the Korean migrant healthcare workers based on their experiences at work. The way in which the stereotypical image of Asian/Korean femininity has been shaped into care work will be examined. Another focus is the way in which the Korean female healthcare practitioners manage their emotions and act as compassionate nurses in care delivery. They perform or manage their emotions to demonstrate a sense of compassion and empathy in nursing practices. In the process of performing their duty of care and managing their emotions over the long-term, the Korean healthcare workers also have to negotiate between providing compassionate care and coping with “compassion fatigue” in healthcare settings by performing racialized gender in a recurring manner. Their emotional labor is thereby undertaken in intersection with gender, and race/ethnicity; factors which are entangled and mutually reinforced in the performativity of gender and race/ethnicity within the context of nursing care by the “guest workers.”

Source: Yonson Ahn, "Samaritans from the East": Emotion and Korean nurses in Germany", Korean Studies, Volume 45, 2021, pp.9-35. doi:10.1353/ks.2021.0002.

Announcements


Members of the project (from left to right): Dr. Aimi Muranaka , Dr. Helena Hof, Dr. Ruth Achenbach , Dr. Megha Wadhwa and Dr. Joohyun Justine Park; Fotograf/courtesy of: M. Wadhwa

We are pleased to announce that the website of the new project Qualification and Skill in the Migration Process of Foreign Workers in Asia"Qualification" in the migration process of foreign skilled workers in Asia is now live!

At www.quamafa.de you will find up-to-date information on our work on qualified migration in Asia, including lecture series, publications, movies... QuaMaFA is a joint research project of the IZO of the Goethe University Frankfurt in cooperation with the FU Berlin and the University of Duisburg-Essen and the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity!