The Making of Asian Commons
Description
This book develops the concept of Asian Commons as a conceptual and methodological tool to engage with Asia, both in its incredible heterogeneity and its important historical resonance. The contributions in this edited volume engage in a rethinking of Asia in an inclusive and collective manner without privileging any region/nation. The Asia that emerges from the world of policy-making and academic discourse is composed of regional blocks: South Asia, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, and East Asia are identified more for expediency than as imagined communities. In looking at Asia beyond these units, examining new and forgotten networks, the book foregrounds the lived experiences-and cultural productions emanating from these experiences-making visible the alternative pathways that nurture the notion of Asian Commons. The desire to create an Asian Commons comes from a collective history of anti-colonial struggles and shared vision for social and economic justice. As a working concept, Asian Commons is informed by the historical resources accumulated through Asia's varied but connected experience with decolonization. Mindful of the trap of exclusionary nationalism and false internationalism which flattens the differences between/within nations and peoples, Asian Commons would allow intellectual and political innovation that embraces both the heterogeneities and commonalities of Asia. In its re-examination of the current state of decoloniality, this book discusses alternative visions of Asian Commons. It is a key text for academics and students specialising in Asian cultural studies, with a particular emphasis on postcolonial perspectives, and for researchers focused on Asian history and contemporary issues, seeking a deeper understanding of the region's interconnectedness.
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Persons
Dr. Mithilesh Kumar is an assistant professor in English and Cultural Studies at Christ (Deemed to be University), Bangalore, India. He has earned a Ph.D. in Culture and Society from Western Sydney University, Australia. His research interests include cultural theory, political theory, and social theory with emphasis on migration and questions and issues of justice. He has published several articles and book chapters on populism, migration, and postcolonial-postsocialist theories. He is also the founder-member of Commoning Asia Collective.
Dr. Ka Ki Wong is the Associate Academic Vice President (Teaching and Learning Development) and an Associate Professor of the Department of Chinese Language and Literature at Hong Kong Shue Yan University. Her research interests include Hong Kong literature, modern Chinese literature, translation studies, and periodical studies. Her academic publication includes Yesi's Hong Kong Stories: A Study of the Discourse of Literary History (2021), Forty Years of Su Yeh: A Retrospective and Research (2020), Xi Xi: A Collection of Critical Essays and Studies (co-edited, 4 volumes, 2018), and numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals both in Chinese and English.
Content
Introduction (Mithilesh Kumar and Ka Ki Wong).- Part I: Across Nation Borders.- 1. Why do we Study Tibet? Reflections on Method in Asian StudiesSwati CHAWLA (Associate Professor, School of Liberal Arts and Humanities, Jindal Global University, India).- 2. Peace Studies after Oct 2023: Enacting Live Research and Living Research CommunitiesFatima Waqi SAJJAD (Associate Professor of International Relations, Department of Political Science and IR, University of Management and Technology Lahore, Pakistan).- Part II: Commoning Asia Studies.- 3. Why Asian Commons? Suruchi THAPAR-BJÖRKERT (Associate Professor, Department of Government,University of Uppsala, Sweden)Ruchika RANWA (Assistant Professor, School of Humanities & Social Sciences, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Dubai International Academic City, Dubai, UAE).- 4. Commoning a Discipline: Asian Cultural Studies or Cultural Studies in Asia? Mithilesh KUMAR (Assistant Professor, Christ University, India).- 5. Asian Commons, Geography, and Decolonizing Education in IndiaSadan JHA (Associate Professor, Centre for Social Studies, Surat, India).- Part III: Southeast Asia Cultural Production during the Cold War era6. Managing "Love" in Nanyang Story: The Multifaceted Southern Perspectives in the Thirty Cents Novels Chih-Chi WENG (Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Taiwanese Culture, National Taipei University of Education, Taiwan).- 7. United Front of Asians in Communism: Introduction of Asian literature in Hong Kong leftist periodicals in the 1970s Ka Ki WONG (Associate Professor, Department of Chinese Language and Literature, Hong Kong Shue Yan University, Hong Kong).- Part IV: Transcultural East Asia.- 8. Geographies of Information: The Transmission of the Images of China in East Asia in the 18th Century Ming Tak Ted HUI (Associate Professor of Classical Chinese and Medieval China, University of Oxford, UK).- 9. Transcultural Trails of German and Japanese aesthetics in Chinese Aesthetic Education Movement in 1920s: Examining Yu Ji-fan's WorksKevin Ting-Kit YAU (Lecturer, Department of Chinese Language and Literature, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong).