Synopsis:
This podcast series is part of the History department at the University of Wisconsin produced by graduate students. Each episode includes an interview that discusses transnationalism and Asia-related topics. This interview with Shelly Chan discusses the migration of Chinese people overseas and how it resulted in how China was portrayed on a global scale. While transnationalism and diaspora often look at migrants, Chan discusses how the experience of diaspora goes beyond borders and pushed China forward as a nation-state due to people moving abroad. The interview discusses how migration has shifted focus away from men leaving China, to women entering the global migration system.
Rationale:
This podcast provides a space for scholars and students to listen to various perspectives related to transnationalism and topics related to Asia. While this podcast is housed in the History department of this university, it touches on how Western history provides a vision or perspective from a Western view. This is relevant to transnational feminisms as this episode discusses the notion of imagined communities and how who were leaving China has shifted in the 20th century. Previously it was mainly men that left the country for a new home; however, newer trends indicate that more women are traveling and settling overseas while still maintaining imagined ties to their homeland. I chose this podcast because it highlighted how with different waves of migration from Asian regions, it resulted in different classes, historical backgrounds, and communities that allowed for different simultaneous experiences. Studies related to Asian countries are divided among different departments such as Pacific Asian studies, history, and economics and discussed in a way that portrays the Asian diaspora as a monolithic move. In this interview, Shelly Chan discusses how more work is required to understand perspectives by reconceptualizing how historical moments are perceived chronologically and are seen from the edges from non-Western views. Understanding history from another view drew me to this podcast series because it can connect the dots between capitalism, migration, and identity beyond borders.
Keywords: Transnational, diaspora, borders, migration, history
Author: CulturalDragonfly
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