RECENT NEWS AND PUBLICATIONS
Globalization and its Chinese Discontents: Feminist Critiques
by Lihua Wang
The Genius of the English Nation: Travel Writing and National Identity in Early Modern England
by Anna Suranyi
Globalization and its Chinese Discontents: Feminist Critiques
by Lihua Wang
Points and Themes Globalization following WWII, from macro and philosophical perspectives, can be identified with three isms: developmentalism (modernization), neo-liberalism, and consumerism. All articles in the book touch upon one of the isms. Chapter One “Development and Empire Building: Feminist Post-development Rejection of Globalization Discourse” uses empire as a concept and framework to re-examine development discourse, ideology, and the representation of modernization since the 1950s in the United States. Using arguments from feminist post-development scholars, the author examines both philosophical and practical aspects of “development” to convey the idea that American empire building was closely associated with promoting modernization projects around the world. In this regard, the lack of a feminist critique of the male model of development has caused theoretical problems in feminist and development studies.
This book raises a critical voice on the discourse of globalization from local, Chinese, post-colonial (post-developmentalist) feminist perspectives. At the same time, this book highlights problems inherited from feminist scholars who believe in neo-liberalism and that the free market will bring women more freedom and choices, and/or they will be better off. In contrast to those beliefs, this book tells us that neo-liberal policies have created many problems for women and have endangered working class women’s ability to survive. Neo-liberalist globalization, indeed, is not aimed at creating a democratic and free society, nor does it aim at creating equality for women.
The Genius of the English Nation: Travel Writing and National Identity in Early Modern England
by Anna Suranyi
Travel literature was one of the most popular literary genres of the early modern era. This book examines how emerging concepts of national identity, imperialism, colonialism, and orientalism were worked out and represented for English readers in early travel and ethnographic writings. Using insights from a variety of scholarly fields such as history, anthropology, and literary studies, Dr. Suranyi analyzes recurrent cultural stereotypes used by English travelers to describe continental Europe, Ireland, and the Ottoman Empire. For such writers, the most important criteria for evaluating countries were civility and barbarism. These were represented through depictions of cultural traits such as foodways, cleanliness, the roles of women, or even the ascription of gender to countries.