Representing China on the ground
In recent decades, more and more scholars and reporters have gone to Africa to unveil the “true nature” of Chinese involvement. Consequently, being interviewed has become one of Chinese migrants’ routine activities. While the Chinese authorities remind migrants that they are the representatives of C...
Tallennettuna:
| Julkaisussa: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/terrain, |
|---|---|
| Päätekijä: | |
| Aineistotyyppi: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Kieli: | Anglais |
| Julkaistu: |
Terrain
2020
|
| Aiheet: | |
| Linkit: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
| Yhteenveto: | In recent decades, more and more scholars and reporters have gone to Africa to unveil the “true nature” of Chinese involvement. Consequently, being interviewed has become one of Chinese migrants’ routine activities. While the Chinese authorities remind migrants that they are the representatives of China and demand that they keep politically vigilant when talking to “strangers,” hosting “ethnic others” (Western journalists, researchers, etc.) suddenly becomes problematic. Based on my fieldwork in a Chinese farm in Zambia, this paper is a study of how Chinese migrant workers engage with “ethnic others” diplomatically. I argue that speech formalization provides them with a space of communicative maneuver to exercise diplomacy on the ground. |
|---|