Chinese in Dubai

Money, Pride, and Soul-Searching
Erscheinungsjahr 2020
ISBN: 978-90-04-43771-5
Verlag: Brill

Buch, Englisch, Band 15, 264 Seiten, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 236 mm, Gewicht: 567 g

Reihe: Chinese Overseas

Chinese in Dubai offers the first book-length study of the experiences of overseas Chinese living in the most prominent global city in the Arabian Gulf and the broader Middle East region. Evolving around three themes—money, pride, and spirituality, this book delineates the changing shape of Chinese spaces in metropolitan Dubai, explicates how a frontier mentality affects intergroup relations, identity construction, and religious experiences in the Chinese diaspora. It documents how the Chinese make sense of their struggles, sufferings, prosperity, and success in relation to Dubai’s fast changing social environment. This book is a timely endeavour to gauge the implications of a rising China and the shifting patterns of the international economic and political order for the global Chinese diaspora.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Wang, Yuting

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Soziologie von Migranten und Minderheiten
• Sozialwissenschaften Ethnologie | Volkskunde Volkskunde Minderheiten, Interkulturelle & Multikulturelle Fragen

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Acknowledgement

List of Figures and Tables

Introduction: Entering the Frontier of Overseas Chinese Studies

1 Shaking Hands with the Chinese: Dubai’s Eastward Turn to China

2 Studying Overseas Chinese in Dubai: Developing a Conceptual Framework

3 Conducting Ethnography on Overseas Chinese in Dubai: Methodological Consideration

4 Structure of the Book

1 Destination Dubai: from a Fishing Village to a Global City

1 The Humble Beginning

2 Pre-Oil Economy: Pearling and Trade

3 The Discovery of Oil and the Birth of a Nation

4 The Making of a Global City: Economic Diversification and Branding Dubai

5 Dubai as a City of Migrants

6 Staying ahead of the Game: Dubai’s Answers to Regional Instability

7 Turning toward the East

8 Happiness as the Ultimate Indictor of Development

9 Conclusion

2 The Making of Chinese Spaces in Dubai: Nasser Square, Dragon Mart, and Beyond

1 Early Presence: from Pilgrims to Traders

2 Global Trade and the Formation of Chinatowns in Dubai

3 Beyond Chinatown: Economic Diversification and New Chinese Spaces in a Global City

4 Caveats in the Study of Overseas Chinese in Dubai

3 Being Chinese in Dubai: Pride, Prejudice, and the Frontier Mentality

1 Facing Stereotypes: the Good, Bad, and Ugly

2 Unpacking Stereotypes: Compounding Factors

3 Meet the Chinese in Dubai: a Diverse Community

4 Frontier Mentality: Finding Pride and Fighting Prejudice

5 Conclusion: Knocking on the Door of the Mainstream

4 Soul-Searching: Diverse Religious Experiences among Overseas Chinese in Dubai

1 Changing Religiosity among Chinese Migrants

2 Studying Chinese Religious Conversion: from Personal Bonds to Social Contexts

3 Becoming Muslim: Acculturation and Conversion

4 Choosing Christianity over Islam: Cultural and Institutional Factors

5 Making Buddhist Space in Dubai: Beyond Orthodoxy and Orthopraxy

6 Soul-Searching in the Desert: Similarities and Variations

5 Chinese Muslims in Dubai: from Middlemen Minority to Cultural Ambassador

1 The Double Marginality of Chinese Hui Muslims

2 Cultural Exchange as a Vocation: the Prototype of a Model Minority

3 Chinese Emirati: from Margin to Center

4 Being the Good Citizen in Dubai: from Middleman to Cultural Ambassador

5 Conclusion: the Making of China’s “Good Muslims” in Dubai

6 China’s “Soft Power” and the Future of the Chinese Community in Dubai

1 “Chinese Fever” and the Education Dilemma of Chinese Expatriates in Dubai

2 China’s Soft Power in the United Arab Emirates

3 Conclusion

Conclusion: The Chinese in Dubai: toward a New Direction in Overseas Chinese Studies

Epilogue

Appendix

References

Über Autor(innen)

Yuting Wang is Associate Professor of Sociology at the American University of Sharjah. She has published widely on transnational migrants, especially Muslim minorities, including Between Islam and the American Dream: An Immigrant Muslim Community in Post-9/11 America (Routledge, 2014).