Sigur Center 2012 Chinese Language Grant in Taiwan: Southern Trip

During my last week in Taiwan, I took a trip south with some of my relatives. Although I was born in Taiwan (I moved to the US when I was 5 years old), I rarely go out of the Taipei metropolitan area, so this was a nice opportunity to explore the rest of the island. My family and I first went to Kenting, the southernmost tip of the island, and Kaohsiung, the second largest city in Taiwan.

If you come to Taiwan, you have to visit Kenting! There are numerous hotels and resorts that are right by the beach--many of which are filled by foreign visitors and tourists. Right when you arrive in Kenting, you immediately get a relaxed feeling being near the ocean and the beach. It has a laid-back environment that reminds me of Laguna Beach (I live in Southern California). After relaxing and playing in the beach for the day, you can shop around the vibrant night market at night. 

A scene of a beach in Kenting at night.

I didn't get to spend much time sight-seeing in Kaohsiung. What I did notice immediately when I arrived in Kaohsiung is the stark political divide between Taipei and Kaohsiung (I know, I'm a nerd!) You can notice the political differences simply in the naming of places. In Kaohsiung, which is generally pro-DPP, many of the names are associated with "Formosa" or "Taiwan"--names that disassociate Taiwan with China. For example, the Formosa Boulevard Station--the central station in the Kaohsiung Metro--has many political references. Inside the metro station, they also have a human rights center. I rarely see any political insinuations of this kind when I'm in Taipei. Regardless of your political affiliation, you should definitely visit the Formosa Boulevard Station and Central Park Station in Kaohsiung Metro. These two stations are regarded as some of the most beautiful metro stations in the world. The Formosa Boulevard Station has colorful bright lights with mosaic designs that are all made of class. Central Park Station has a beautiful garden that surrounds the escalators going up and down.

Formosa Boulevard Station in Kaohsiung Metro

Central Park Station in Kaohsiung Metro

I hope that reading these blog posts have encouraged you to come to Taiwan and visit. When the Portuguese arrived to the island, they called it "Formosa", meaning beautiful island. Taiwan truly is a beautiful, beautiful island. And if you are a student of East Asian international affairs, I believe that it's essential that you come and visit the island.

Chris Wang

B.A. International Affairs, Minor in Sociology 2014
Sigur Center 2012 Chinese Language Fellow
National Taiwan University, Taiwan

Summer Field Research 2012: Initial Interviews in Beijing

During the last week of my trip to Beijing, I had the chance to conduct a few actual interviews on the subject of my research: Chinese public opinion and its influence on the country's foreign policy. These were the first formal interviews I arranged in China and an invaluable experience as I progress with my dissertation research.

I wrote earlier about visiting Nankai University in Tianjin and meeting with Prof. Liu Feng. While there I also talked at some length with his colleague, Prof. Huang Haitao, and I got the name of another professor at Tsinghua University back in Beijing, Dr. Sun Xuefeng. So, I arranged a meeting with Prof. Sun and made my way up to Tsinghua for a conversation two days before my flight back to the US.

It was nice to return to Tsinghua, a place where I'd studied at the IUP program in 2008-2009. The campus is very pretty in the summer, with a mix of modern glass structures, older Communist-era construction, and a core of early 20th-century buildings done by an American architect in the style of US state universities, including the University of Illinois. There are also canals and gardens running through the campus that were part of the Qing-dynasty palace complex in northwest Beijing which bequethed some of its natural beauty to both Tsinghua and to Peking University across the street. I made my way up to a building that I had walked past many times but never been inside, where the international relations department is located.

Prof. Sun was very welcoming, and we had a good discussion on recent events in US-China relations and Chinese foreign policy. He reiterated what I had heard from some other experts regarding the internet in China: that Chinese leaders are attaching a lot of importance to this form of expression and making sure that it doesn't get out of hand. In fact, he thought this was an important enough factor that I might consider it as a major angle for my dissertation project. Prof. Sun also emphasized two main factors in the tensions between China and its neighbors between 2009-2011. First, he felt that the Chinese government hasn't done enough to match its economic cooperation with military or security reassurance. Second, we spoke about the fear of abandonment by the US that other countries in the region are currently feeling given US domestic difficulties and China's rapid rise. Finally, Prof. Sun offered a couple interesting views on the role of nationalism and public opinion in Chinese foreign policy. He downplayed the possibility or influence of a foreign policy "trap," in which the government is said to stoke nationalism for domestic benefit but then be constrained by it in international affairs. Simultaneously, he thinks the CCP is paying more attention to nationalism than in previous decades. All of these topics were right up my alley and made for a very productive conversation.

After finishing that meeting, Prof. Sun took me across the hall to meet one of his colleagues: Professor Zheng Chuanjie, also of the IR department. As it turned out, Prof. Zheng's specialty is public opinion and foreign affairs, so the hour I spent talking with his was also very well spent. We talked at length about nationalist demonstrations, how well the Chinese government is able to understand and measure public opinion, and a variety of other issues. Prof. Zheng also introduced me to some new methodologies that I hadn't considered before for my own research, which was much appreciated. At the end, I even had an offer to come back to the Tsinghua IR department for my field research in 2013!

All in all, this short visit to Tsinghua was easily the most productive of my discussions during my research trip though by no means my only chance to talk with Chinese experts. During this trip, I learned a great deal and received quite a bit of good advice regarding my eventual dissertation, as well as enjoying my time in Beijing connecting with other students and faculty from GWU or past visits. I also gained some really valuable experience in conducting interviews that I know will serve me well in the future. The most fascinating part to me is simply meeting people with radically different perspectives on the world...and China has no shortage of such people!

As always, many thanks to the Sigur Center for this opportunity. And for any other students hoping to do research in Asia next summert, take advantage of the resources our school has to offer! I'm very glad that I did.

Thanks for reading and zaijian!

Jackson Woods
Summer Field Research Fellow 2012
Ph.D. Candidate, Political Science

China and Taiwan: a Social and Cultural Comparison

           In late July I said goodbye to Taiwan and visited Beijing for a week before returning home to the United States. Having lived in Beijing during my senior year of high school (2008-2009), I was very excited to return to China’s capital city to visit my host family and Chinese friends—both of whom I have not seen since I left China more than three years ago.  With Taiwan still fresh in my mind, I was also eager to compare what life is like on the Mainland with that of Taiwan. While Taiwan and Mainland China both share Chinese social and cultural characteristics, sixty plus years of political separation between the two has caused them to socially and culturally evolve in a very different fashion. In this blog post and the next, I will discuss what I think are the most salient social and cultural differences between Taiwan and Mainland China.

            Before I arrived in Taiwan, I was very much aware of the fact that Taiwan uses traditional or “complex” Chinese characters, whereas the Mainland uses simplified Chinese characters. I also knew that Taiwanese people have a distinctive Mandarin accent different from most places in Mainland China. What I was completely unaware of, though, was the vast difference in everyday words and expressions in China and Taiwan. For example, off the top of my head, I can recall that the English words for taxi, potato, peanut, “and”, metro, pineapple, and garbage all employ different Chinese words in Taiwan than in Mainland China. One of my Taiwanese interlocutors said that the differences in diction between Taiwanese Mandarin and Mainland Chinese Mandarin are greater than the diction differences between British English and American English. I agree with his assessment.

            In addition to language, I noticed several differences in the way Taiwanese and Chinese people interact with their fellow countrymen in public spaces. It seems that Taiwanese people have a sense of personal space, whereas in China personal space (especially when one takes public transportation) is virtually non-existent. This social difference is most likely due to the extremely crowded nature of many of China’s cities—many of which are almost equal in size to Taiwan’s entire population. While most people in Taiwan stand in line to wait for a bus or the metro, it seems that most people in China either do not stand in line or cut in front of the line if there is even a line formed. Taiwanese drivers are also apt to yield to drivers wanting to merge into their lanes, whereas my recent Beijing taxi driver lamented to me about Beijing drivers’ increasing unwillingness to yield to other drivers. I learned an idiom over the summer that I have grown fond of, mainly because it is so effective in describing Chinese people’s behavior in public spaces: 争先恐后, “striving to be first, and hating to be last.” In China, everyone seems to be in a rush and consequently cannot afford to stand in line or yield to other drivers. In Taiwan, people seem to be more laid back.

            Being six foot eight, I naturally receive a lot of attention in Asia, particularly in China. I remember Chinese people staring at me all the time when I was in China during my senior year of high school. When I was in Taiwan this summer, though, relatively few Taiwanese people stared at me, and, even if they did, they did it in a subtle way. Receiving a lot of attention as I did in China is, in my view, both good and bad—it is good in the way that many people are interested in you and reach out to you in conversation, but is bad in the way that one can quickly feel less than human when everyone is staring at you. In Taiwan it is the reverse: I felt that it was harder to reach out to young Taiwanese people and make friends because I was just another  “foreigner,” but did enjoy less people staring at me overall.

         Well, I think I will end here and pick up making more social and cultural differences between Taiwan and China in my next blog post. Thanks for reading!

Sigur Center Grant for Field Research Summer 2012: Girls' Education in Rural India

As I begin the new semester at GW, I feel very grateful for the opportunity to do research this past summer and also excited to share my experiences with friends, family, and classmates. I returned last week after spending approximately six weeks in Karnataka, India, studying non-formal education and its impacts on girls, as well as one week in Sri Lanka working with Professor James Williams on a research project on the higher education system.

Truthfully, it’s difficult to summarize what took place this summer and how it has impacted me. This was my first time collecting data in an international setting, and it was definitely a learning experience. While many of these may seem obvious, I wanted to share some of my ‘lessons learned’, in the hope that they may help future students new to the international research world.

1. Arrange a homestay

The majority of my time in India was spent in the home of my husband’s cousin and her family. Although we had never met prior to my arrival in India, they graciously welcomed me into their lives, and without their assistance and hospitality, my experience in India would have been completely different. Beyond the introduction to the culture and the language, my homestay also provided me with the unexpected opportunity to further my knowledge on the Indian higher education system. The father of the family is a French professor at the University of Mysore, and he helped arrange several meetings with his colleagues working in my subject area, who shared a wealth of information on gender issues and the Indian education system. In addition, the family’s two sons, aged 18 and 20, are currently pursuing medical studies, and I was able to witness the university admissions process for the younger son, which differs greatly from the US. While a homestay with extended family may not be possible for every project, the benefits of living with a local family are immense, and I will definitely do my best to arrange this in the future, whenever possible.

2. Be flexible

This was perhaps the greatest lesson gained from this experience. I am accustomed to conducting research in relatively controlled environments within the US but quickly realized that I must be open to unexpected events during data collection in India. Despite my best efforts to conduct interviews in private locations away from distractions, several of the participants had to simultaneously entertain their children during the interviews, and, due to the multi-generational living arrangements, family members would interrupt the interviews to offer snacks or to just generally see what was happening. Similarly, there were numerous power outages, water shortages, and incidents of peeping toms complete with the arrival of the police, all during my data collection. This is normal life for the participants, and I had to adjust to these circumstances while simultaneously taking steps to preserve the validity and reliability of the study.

3. Connections are vital

My study relied heavily on building trust with school administrators, teachers, and former students. By contacting many of the non-formal education providers in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu states, I gained access to a network of individuals who helped me identify the best programs for my study. The programs that are included in my study agreed to allow me to conduct my research primarily because I had been in contact with their colleagues who could speak to my credibility. As a lone researcher out in the field, this was essential, as my study involved a relatively large time commitment on the part of the program, as well as interacting with the students which opened the program up to possible liability. Similarly, snowball sampling proved to be the most effective way of recruiting former students, as participants could contact their former classmates and create connections that would have been impossible on my own.

4. Be prepared to have tea, lots of tea

Relationships are built over tea in India. The custom of taking tea and discussing seemingly off-topic subjects is a way of building rapport with participants and their families, so it is important to account for this additional time when planning the research schedule. After all, as the IRB education coordinator joked, “How would you feel if someone from India came to your door, wanting to hear all about your life and your experiences in the Jackson High School class of 2002?”A cup of tea with my family is the least that I would expect in that circumstance.

5. Understand that professional services may come at Western prices, but it may be worth it

Somewhat foolishly, I assumed that I would be able to secure an interpreter and translator for lower rates than one would find in the US, given the cost of living in India. However, these professional services come at a premium. For example, in Bangalore, seven hours of interpretation services will cost approximately $100USD. I would recommend going this route, however, as it will save a large amount of time and energy in the end. Unfortunately, I learned this the hard way.

In addition, rickshaws seemed to be the best mode of transportation when I arrived. Of course, my ride through the Indian countryside in a rickshaw (made for a driver and 2-3 passengers) with 17 other people and a baby goat IS one of my favorite memories of my trip, despite getting stuck in a sewage puddle and having to push our way out. However, locating a new driver each day contributed to numerous language issues, as well as a lot of time spent arguing over the exorbitant fees the drivers charge foreigners. There are very limited street names in rural Karnataka, so finding the participants’ homes was quite an adventure and, at times, possibly a bit unsafe for a female traveling alone. In retrospect, hiring one rickshaw driver or a car and driver for the duration of my stay would probably have been a better option.

These lessons and many other gained from this experience are invaluable and have definitely helped me become a better researcher. Thank you again to the Sigur Center for your support of my trip to India and Sri Lanka, and I look forward to sharing my results with the wider GW and Asian studies community in the coming months!

Nora Shetty

M.A. International Education, 2013
Sigur Center 2012 Field Research Fellow
Karnataka, India

Watching Ethnic Politics and Social Unrest Unfold in India

From the aftermath of the Arab Spring across the Middle East and presidential elections in the United States to the effects of economic crisis on democracies in Europe, no one can claim that 2012 has been an uninteresting year for students of democratic politics. India’s story has been equally interesting, albeit in a rather ominous way. Earlier this year, parts of a northeastern state in India called Assam erupted in violence, with Muslim villagers clashing with Bodo tribes, who happen to be Hindu, Christian and animist. The Bodo tribes argue that too many of the Muslim villagers are illegal Bangladeshi immigrants taking away local jobs and resources, while Muslim villagers blame the Bodo for discriminating against Muslims, and for seeking to marginalize them. What started as isolated violence quickly ballooned into large-scale mayhem.

One of the many disturbing images of violence in Assam making the internet rounds

While the Indian government has sought to clamp down on the violence, ethnic tensions have flared up elsewhere in the country. More disturbingly, a variety of political actors around the country have sought to capitalize on fear for various strategic reasons – such as recruitment, political power, and monetary support. In a preliminary report, India’s cyber-security agency blamed a group called the Popular Front of India (PFI) of fomenting mass panic in the city of Bangalore in South India. The PFI is a Muslim organization that purports to speak for oppressed minorities (they officially advocate for the rights of all minorities and not just Muslims) in India. The cybersecurity agency claims that the PFI sent bulk SMSs to Indians of Northeastern descent living in Bangalore, warning them that Muslims would seek revenge on them for the ethnic violence in Assam if they did not leave Bangalore. The result was mass panic, as approximately 30,000 northeasterners in Bangalore tried to leave the city at the same time.

The city of Mumbai has been another epicenter of unrest, as a rally protesting the unrest in Assam organized by local Muslim leaders also turned violent, resulting in two deaths and almost 60 injured, the majority of whom were policemen trying to contain the crowd.

Azad Maidan Riots in Mumbai, August 2012; Source: Indian Express

Since the violence, powerful Hindu groups in Mumbai have been organizing their own rallies and used it to criticize the government, Bangladeshi illegal immigrants, immigrants from other parts of the country, and anyone else that rouses the crowd. Implicit amongst the criticisms is the idea that Muslims are to blame for the violence. 

Ethnic politics is not a new phenomenon, both here and elsewhere. But what is especially interesting to me is the role ethnic politics plays in India. On the one hand, eminent scholars like Christophe Jaffrelot see a silver lining – that the rise of ethnic parties in India has made India’s democracy more inclusive by enfranchising lower class and caste voters in India. On the other hand, many have lamented the fact that the use of this kind of politics to gain votes and power will lead to greater societal fragmentation in the future. The argument is that as people become used to supporting only the group they identify with, India's politics will become increasingly antagonistic.

One might argue all aforementioned groups have benefited from the current bout of unrest. The PFI gets to say to Muslims everywhere (especially to their potential recruits and donors) that the PFI has been right all along – Muslims are indeed at risk in India. The Shiv Sena and MNS (the powerful Hindu groups in Mumbai, Maharashtra) get to say the same thing to Hindus – that they have a legitimate reason to be afraid, especially from immigrants and Muslims. Even the ruling government in Delhi has someone to blame – as usual, they blame Pakistan for fomenting unrest in India. Indeed, ethnic unrest is quite lucrative.

Perhaps one could argue that ethnic politics follows the law of diminishing marginal returns. That is to say, that a small amount of ethnic politics is beneficial - it allows for previously oppressed groups to have a say and reap the benefits of democracy. However, there comes a critical point, beyond which further ethnic politicization has in fact a detrimental effect on society. Watching social unrest unfold in India, I am certainly intrigued by the potential accuracy of such an argument.

NBR Information Session

Information Session 

with representatives from the 

National Bureau of Asian Research 

on

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

3:30 - 5:00pm

Elliott School Room 505 
Please RSVP for this event to:
Daniela, Graduate Student Career Development (drei@gwu.edu)

About NBR

NBR conducts advanced independent research on strategic, political, economic, globalization, health, and energy issues affecting U.S. relations with Asia. Drawing upon an extensive network of the world’s leading specialists and leveraging the latest technology, NBR bridges the academic, business, and policy arenas.  Learn more: http://www.nbr.org/default.aspx. 

Public Affairs and Communications Internship

Are you interested in U.S. relations with Asia? Do you want to learn how to effectively communicate research on Asian politics to U.S. policymakers, the media, and the corporate community? The National Bureau of Asian Research (NBR) is recruiting an intern for its Washington, D.C. office to support its activities that reach out to Congress, the media, and industry, and engage the presidential campaigns.  Read more: http://www.nbr.org/About/openings.aspx#PublicAffairsInternship. 

NBR Staff Presenters

Clara Gillispie, Project Manager

As a Project Manager, Ms. Gillispie manages and supports NBR projects and initiatives for Trade, Economic, and Energy Affairs. In this capacity, she coordinates research, publications, and logistics for a range of projects, including Chinese innovation policies and energy security in the Asia-Pacific.

Ms. Gillispie graduated from the London School of Economics and Peking University with a dual MSc in International Affairs. Her academic and research interests focus on technology and security in East Asia, including Sino-U.S. technology transfer policies and the behavior of Chinese netizens. Prior to her graduate studies, Ms. Gillispie received her BS from Georgetown University and attended Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan, for language training.

Sonia Luthra, Assistant Director, National Asia Research Program (NARP) and Outreach

As Assistant Director for the National Asia Research Program (NARP) and Outreach, Ms. Luthra leads NBR’s outreach to Congress, engagement with the corporate community, and activities based in Washington, D.C., for the NARP.

Ms. Luthra joined NBR in 2007 as a Project Associate in the Office of the President and Institutional Development in Seattle. She took a hiatus to earn an MA in International Affairs at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. There she focused on international security policy and South Asia and held a fellowship in the International Fellows Program.

Ms. Luthra also holds a BA in International Studies with a minor in Hindi, from the University of Washington. In addition to her work at NBR, she has spent time with the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the Henry L. Stimson Center, and Northwestern Mutual Financial Network.

Travis Tanner, Senior Project Director and Director of the Pyle Center for Northeast Asian Studies

As a Senior Project Director and the Director of the Pyle Center, Mr. Tanner creates and pursues business opportunities for NBR, determines significant and emerging issues in the field, manages project teams, and is responsible for the success of research projects.

Prior to joining NBR, he was deputy director and assistant director of the Chinese Studies Program at the Nixon Center. He also worked as a research assistant at the Institute for International Economics in Washington, D.C. Mr. Tanner’s interests and expertise include Northeast Asian regional security, China’s economy and foreign affairs, and Taiwanese politics.

Mr. Tanner graduated from both the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University and the Hopkins-Nanjing Center in Nanjing, China, where he earned an MA in International Relations. He received his BA from the University of Utah in Chinese Language and Literature.

For questions please contact Daniela at the Elliott School Graduate Student Career Development: drei@gwu.edu

Information Session for Luce Scholars Program

Information Session for
LUCE SCHOLARS PROGRAM  

Wednesday, August 29^th at 4:00-5:00 PM
Colonial Crossroads

Marvin Center suite 506

800 21^st NW, Washington DC 20052

LUCE SCHOLARS PROGRAM: 
ELIGIBILITY: Graduating seniors, graduate students, grad and undergrad alumni (under age 29); GPA 3.7 recommended
The Luce Scholars Program provides stipends and internships for eighteen young Americans to live and work in Asia each year. Dating from 1974, the program's purpose is to increase awareness of Asia among future leaders in American society. Nominees should have a record of high academic achievement, outstanding leadership ability, and a clearly defined career interest with evidence of potential for professional accomplishment.

The Luce Scholars Program is distinctive in that it seeks students who have NOT had significant experience in Asia or Asian studies. Those who already have significant experience in Asia or Asian studies are ineligible for the Luce Scholars Program. Luce Scholars have backgrounds in virtually any field - other than Asian studies -including medicine, the arts, business, law, science, environmental studies, and journalism. For more information, including application form and materials, please visit the Luce Scholars Program website at: http://www.hluce.org/3scholfm.html .

Placements can be made in the following countries in East and Southeast Asia: Brunei, Cambodia, China and Hong Kong, India (new this year), Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Candidates must be American citizens who have received at least a bachelor’s degree and are no more than 29 years old on September 1 of the year they enter the program. 

The applications of candidates must also be forwarded by a nominating institution. To be nominated, applicants must submit a completed application, including application form and personal statement, ALL transcripts, and four letters of recommendation to GW’s Center for Undergraduate Fellowships and Research.

SELECTION CRITERIA:

• Outstanding capacity for leadership
• Record of high achievement
• Clear and mature sense of professional goals and aspirations
• Personal qualities of flexibility, adaptability, humility, and openness

The GW nominating process deadline for Luce Scholars Program is Friday, September 21, 2012.If you are interested in learning more about the Luce Scholars Program and the university nomination process, please refer to the CUFR Luce page athttp://www.gwu.edu/~fellcent/opportunity/Luce.cfm and set up an appointment to meet with us at fellcent@gwu.edu.

Night Markets

Before I came to Taiwan I imagined that at night every street would be full of lights and crowded with people browsing shops where everything is incredibly cheap and nothing is impossible to find. I think that my imagination was more affected by movies from Japan then by China or anywhere else in Asia, but in Taiwan I found night markets that exactly matched my imagination. Apparently the night markets in Taiwan are quite famous for their variety, popularity and food. 

There is really nothing from America that I can compare night markets to because in America they would probably be shut down immediately. The markets are a combination of low end and high end stores, food carts, counterfeit goods stalls. Every now and then the government shuts down parts of the market for violating building codes, health codes, patent law or some other reason, but the markets are so popular they always start back up.

            There are a number of prominent night markets around Taipei city in addition to the randomly occurring groupings of food stand and knock-off purse vendors. My two favorites are Gongguan which is directly across from the university. Gongguan is not as big as many other markets and certainly not as crowded but the selection of food is top notch. Chen SanDing’s milk tea and the GuaBao (pork buns) stand in front of it make for a great late night snack.

Shilin Market is considerably bigger and based on the 6 established markets I have seen, its probably the best. The food selection is good and they even have an underground food court where the quality is more closely monitored, which is a nice change from the questionable meat vendors on street level. Shilin is also the most crowded market which I hope is because it is the best market in Taipei. They have a very wide selection of cheap souvenirs and clothes but unfortunately because I am almost 6’3” (190cm), there is almost nothing that fits me. My height does have one advantage though; I can see clearly over the crowd to take pictures.

In the middle of Shilin market there is even a full sized Temple. It blends in quite well with the surroundings because it is fully electrified. They have electric signs, multicolored lights and music playing inside. It still makes for a peaceful place to get away from the worst of the crowds and maybe try to use some Oracle blocks or pray to Mazu, the goddess of Taiwan.  

        One other night market that is worth mentioning is Huashi Tourist night market. While it looks fairly modern, its not all that impressive as a night market. It apparently used to be in a dangerous part of town but the area has been developed recently. Huashi mostly markets to foreigners and is the only place in town that I’ve found that sells snake soup and turtle heads. If you are feeling adventurous the snake isn’t bad, it mostly tastes like chicken.

I’ve been going to a lot of Markets recently to buy souvenirs before heading home. It definitely makes for a great and unique experience for remembering Taiwan. There is nothing like it in the states and in my opinion night markets are pretty quintessential experience for anyone visiting Taiwan.  

Whither from Here? The Widening Income Gap in Modern India

One of the first things that struck me when I first came back to Delhi this year was the sheer magnitude of construction that seemed to be taking place in and around Delhi. It wasn't that I hadn’t noticed construction before when I visited first in 2009, or last year. When I first came in 2009, Delhi was constructing the Delhi Metro, which was a massive undertaking. The Government of Delhi has been busy digging to make room for the metro underneath this vast city.

But the kind of construction I am talking about here is not infrastructure development – like roads and mass transit. Rather, the construction I am talking about is commercial and residential – namely, condos, high-rise office buildings, and of course, malls. Economists and policymakers alike agree that this kind of construction is great – it brings jobs, construction and people with disposable incomes to any neighborhood where it occurs. And this euphoria of development, and the celebration of consumption, seems to be in full swing in India’s urban landscape today. Friends and family here are quick to point out fancy cars, fancy homes and fancy clothes wherever they go. The spotting of Bentleys and Rolls Royce’s on Delhi’s streets has been the topic of many a conversation I have had.

Connaught Place, New Delhi is one of the richest shopping districts in the capital

But what distresses me, among many others, is that this awesome growth that India has witnessed, which many have deemed as India’s rise, has actually masked a much more insidious development in India today. Of course, I am speaking here of the fact that India is witnessing an unprecedented rise in income inequality today. In a new report in 2011, the OECD estimated that inequality in wage earnings had doubled in the last two decades in India. They found that the top 10% in India earned 12 times more than the bottom 10%. It is possible that this number may not sound very shocking. Consider then, the fact that a recent government report found that the bottom 10% of the country lived on between 16 – 24 rupees a day. This is less than 50 cents a day, lower even than the World Bank measure of absolute poverty. By contrast, the top 81,000 households in India are worth $1.2 trillion. India’s GDP is $1.8 trillion. India’s population is a little over 1.2 billion. In other words, about 0.03% of households in India own about 67% of its wealth.

Taj Hotel, Mumbai is one of the grandest and most expensive hotels in India. It was also the site of the infamous 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai

All these numbers aren’t meant just for the purpose of shock and awe. I present them here to give the readers (and myself, really) a clearer sense of the sharp socioeconomic distinctions widely evident in India’s cities today, especially metropolises like Delhi and Mumbai. After work, I have had occasions to go out for drinks or dinner, or perhaps catch a live show with family members, or friends that I have made in the course of my time here. The average bill for two people ranges from 1000 rupees for casual drinks to around 5000 when going out for dinner, which is about $20-100. And this is in regular, middle-of-the-pack restaurants in a country with the largest population of poor people in the world. Going any higher here is far beyond my capacity, and I count my earnings and debts in dollars.

People here have often pointed out with great pleasure the newest malls cropping up or the newest retail brands opening chains of stores all around town. They insist that whatever comforts one can buy in developed countries like the United States or EU countries are readily available in India today. I certainly do not doubt the accuracy of the claim. I do wonder, however, if they are aware how insulated India’s rich are becoming from the everyday realities of poverty and the need for frugality that characterize the lives of the vast majority of people living in this country. The flaunting of wealth and its various trappings in television, print media and Bollywood have had a distinct impact on the various sections of society that do not count themselves amongst the rich elite. Their kids demand things – from iPhones to lavish weddings, which are far beyond the reach of the average Indian. Having aspirations and hopes of a better future is certainly a good thing. It is,in fact, a cornerstone of capitalism. But having dreams which are unattainable for the vast majority that are openly celebrated by a small, elite minority can be a recipe for disaster.

Sigur Center 2012 Chinese Language Fellow in Taiwan: Nightlife in Taiwan

New York is often referred to as "the city that never sleeps." If that's the case, then I believe that it's safe to give Taiwan the nickname as "the island that never sleeps." There is never a shortage of exciting things to do anytime when you're in Taiwan.

First, there are the night markets. There are several night markets in Taipei, and there are night markets throughout Taiwan.

The Luodong Night Market in Yilan

The night markets get very, very crowded at night. From 9pm-2am, there are people roaming around the night markets shopping and eating. My favorite thing about night markets is the liveliness and the street vendors that sell food. I think the night markets are one of the things that makes Taiwan distinctly unique.

Shilin Night Market in Taipei

Perhaps the most famous night market in Taiwan is the Shilin Night Market in Taipei--it is the most well-known and most popular. The Shilin Night Market has changed though. Many street vendors used to line up selling food on the roadsides, but that is not the case anymore. They have built a new indoor structure to house the street vendors to make the night market more organized and less crowded. 

I'm not a fan of the new structure. Although the Shilin Night Market isn't as crowded as it used to be, I think it takes out the unique feeling of being in a night market. However, if you're in Taiwan, it's definitely still worth a visit.

If you're interested in exploring the nightlife in Taipei, I would also recommend visiting the various clubs in throughout the city. I've only been to the club once since I've been in Taipei, but there is definitely a different feeling than going to a club in DC. In general, the clubs are more luxurious and classy. From what I've heard, Taipei is regarded as having some of the best clubs in Asia, so it's worth exploring if you're interested!

Luxy Club in Taipei

Chris Wang
B.A. International Affairs, Minor in Sociology 2014
Sigur Center 2012 Chinese Language Fellow
National Taiwan University, Taiwan

Beyond Hindi - An exploratory trip to Gujarat

The chief purpose of this trip to India was to study Hindi at the Landour Language School in Mussoorie, Uttarakhand. However, having finished an eight-week intensive course, I decided to occupy the remaining time in India with preliminary research for my future dissertation. As a soon-to-be third year student of the PhD program in Political Science – currently transitioning between the curricular and the investigative phase of the degree – this visit to India seemed an ideal opportunity to gather first-hand information about my topic and areas of interest as well as to build contact with academics working in the same subfields. For this reason, before departure, I met and discussed ideas with some of my professors at the Department of Political Science, namely Prof. Emmanuel Teitelbaum, Prof. Henry Hale and Prof. Ingrid Creppell. Finally, being outside of school for the first time since the beginning of the language course, provided me with a set of new and varied ‘real-world’ situations in which to practice my newly acquired Hindi skills. 

My destiny was obviously the northwestern state of Gujarat. The word ‘obviously’ is employed here not for a dose of excessive assertiveness but for the simple reason that, since the beginning of the doctoral program, I have focused on the political evolution of Gujarat. There are three reasons for this interest: (1) ever since the early twentieth century, Gujarat has played a prominent role in subcontinental politics, being the home state of both Gandhi and Jinnah, as well as other significant figures such as Sardar Patel and Lal Advani; (2) in the last twenty years, Gujarat has underwent massive transformations from a rural and traditional society into the poster child for the industrial might of modern India, becoming one of the fastest growing states in the country. This success has been closely associated with the political rise of Narendra Modi (BJP), the longest serving Chief Minister in the state and, as mentioned in an previous post, a putative candidate to the Prime Ministerial position in 2014. Finally, (3) in February-June 2002, Gujarat witnessed the largest and most violent Hindu-Muslim riots in India since partition in 1947. This tragic event, which took place during the first months of Modi’s tenure, left deep scars in both India and Gujarat, inspiring a voluminous literature. Although I had briefly stayed in the state in 2005, I now had an opportunity to delve deeper into the occurrences of 2002, the evolution of Gujarati politics since then and the current condition of Hindu-Muslim relations in the state. Most importantly, I now had a chance to meet and contact with some of the authors whose work I have been reading and citing in my own writings.

The seat of the State Government in Gandhinagar, with a statue of Gandhi in the front. 

In Vadodara (also known as Baroda) I met with Professor Lancy Lobo, whose 2006 volume ‘Communal Violence and Minorities: Gujarat Society in Ferment’ (co-authored with Professor Biswaroop Das) presents one of the most complete and vivid accounts of the events of 2002. During our conversation, we exchanged views about the origins and incidence of communal tensions in Gujarat as well as the complex relationship between religion, caste and class. Professor Lobo framed Hindu-Muslim relations in terms of social transformations in the state since independence: the retreat of untouchability led to the social rise of a Hindu lower strata, who has sought social acceptance by the higher castes by stressing their similarities (namely, religion); while the Muslim communities were increasingly pushed towards the bottom of society. The appeal of Hindu nationalism was thus indirectly related with the downfall of the caste system. Later, I met with Dr. J.S. Bandukwala, a retired professor from the Baroda University and a prominent member of the Muslim community in the city, who provided me with a historical perspective of Hindu-Muslim relations.

Lord Shiva's statue in Baroda. 

In Ahmedabad, the largest and most important urban centre in the state, with a long and profound attachment to the Muslim presence in the subcontinent (as testified by its very name), I visited the areas most affected by the 2002 riots, such as Naroda and Gomtipur. One of the most astonishing aspects about this city was the size and visibility of the Muslim population (especially in the town centre). On the one hand, I expected most Muslims to have moved out after the tragedy of 2002 (although the riots were not limited to Ahmedabad, the city registered the highest number of incidents and fatalities); on the other hand, this discovery goes against the popular argument that there is no relation between the size of the Muslim community and the occurrence of communal violence. The solution to this puzzle might be that while the correlation has no expression in total figures (i.e., total size of Muslims vs. total population of a city), it might reveal itself if one takes into consideration two qualitative criteria: population distribution by neighborhoods rather than by urban agglomerate as a whole; and to concentrate on relevant areas of the city, such as the center, where the visibility of a community is higher than in a distant suburb. I had an opportunity to discuss this and other issues with Professor Mona Mehta, co-author of ‘Gujarat Beyond Gandhi: Identity, Society and Conflict’ (2011, co-authored with M. Mehta). As a recent graduate from the University of Chicago and now a part-time Professor at the University of Gandhinagar, Prof. Mehta helped me think about these topics in the terms of the dominant theories of ethnicity and research design.

The candidature of Narendra Modi to Prime Ministerial post in 2014 is a hot topic in the Indian press.

All in all, this was a most fruitful journey that enabled me to test as well as to clarify ideas about my future dissertation project. I now begin my third year with a more informed opinion about the environment in which I will conduct field research, what can and cannot be accomplished in my dissertation. Once again, I would like to finish this post by thanking the Sigur Center for providing me with this excellent opportunity to advance and improve my knowledge and skills.



Nationalism is a real thing? (2012 Summer Grant for Field Research)

I have a niece who's a straight-A high school student. Last Saturday I met her and got a chance to talk to her for two hours.

The first thing she talked about was her new best friend named Akiko, who came from Japan for one reason, leaving all her friends and family behind - which is, she loves to live Korea because she has fallen in love with Korean pop culture, the so-called Hanryu.

One day at school, Junghyun, my niece, asked her Japanese friend what her opinion was on the Tokdo (or Dakeshima in Japanese) dispute. Junghyun said she expected some positive answers ("positive" from Junghyun's viewpoint, of course) from Akiko such as "I think the Dokdo islet belongs to Korea," or "It's nonsense that Japan wants to have the territory that they illegally occupied during the colonial time. Maybe my niece expected those answers since she knew how much Akiko loved Korean pop culture. I mean, Akiko left for South Korea to live in Seoul!!

However, as opposed to what Junghyun expected, Akiko replied, "I think we should not fight...But I think we should call the islet Dakeshima, not Dokdo." Since this conversation, there has been a long "pause" between Junghyun and Akiko and either of them has not yet tried to reset their friendship mode.

This conversation with my niece has led me to think about nationalism - i.e., whether nationalism is a real thing, and historical animosity that exists between countries is a real thing that can be explained by scholars. Though my have attempted to explain the historical animosity that exists between Korea and Japan as well as between China and Japan with such variables as culture, identity, power, and politics, I am still not convinced that the historical animosity that works as a background of heightened nationalism is a real deal.

The current president of South Korea, Lee Myong Bak, went to Dokdo last week. Why last week? Why he had to go there all of sudden especially when he goes through lame duck session? Why not in 2009 when his political popularity spiked? Although he said that he had planned for the visit to Dokdo for three years, it appears that nobody is convinced by this statement.

Then in the case of Japan, while hitting the nadir of political popularity in Japan, why has the PM Noda shifted its stance on Dokdo from moderate to super conservative? After expressing their deep "remorse" regarding its imperial past in the early 20th century, why does Japan still want the territory that they had illegally extorted? Does this really prove that Japan is not apologetic at all about what they had done to other Asians for their territorial greed?

Let alone those questions, the real question we should try to answer is who is provoking our calm mind and who is instigating our nationalism in the name of patriotism?

The Politicians in both Japan and South Korea are using this delicate territorial issue for their exit strategy to get out of their unpopular moment, even jeopardizing the burgeoning economic and cultural relations between the two countries. Although this vulnerable situation provides me with another instance to prove that asymmetric economic interdependence adversely affects a secondary state's alignment decision by narrowing the choices down, I am not happy with this... Since everybody losing their more important and realistic interests while not noticing. Winning an emotional game while losing a real bet cannot be called a true victory.