Over the last three decades, the shifts brought about by the ‘rise of China’ as a key player in global capitalism have had implications in a myriad of places, practices and imaginations. One such implication can be seen in the decade long presence of an African population in the southern city of Guangzhou. In this dissertation, I look into the dynamics informing this presence by focusing on transnational connections, relations and practices. I take up the call (coming from different fields in the Humanities and Social Sciences) for an analysis of transnationality grounded in the everyday experiences of individuals ‘on the move’ (physically and metaphorically). Accordingly, in this dissertation I provide an extensive ethnographic analysis, accompanied by theoretical formulations, to explain how is African presence in Guangzhou (re)produced and what are the possibilities for the future. Throughout these pages, I contend that transnationality entails much more than mere ‘movement’ across borders, and, as such, can be analysed from multiple perspectives. So, while I pay attention to issues of border crossing, connections beyond the reach of the state, and the reproduction of livelihoods from multiple locations, I also explore how is the transnational embodied in people and things (in emotions and aspirations, as well as in materialities), and embedded in placemaking processes. Hence, drawing from my fieldwork, I identify several ‘discursive sites of the transnational’ (i.e. neighbourhoods, things and practices, organisations, and aspirations, amongst others) from where, without necessarily undertaking international travel, one could critically observe and analyse how the complex material, political, affective and emotional geographies of transnationality unfold and expand. In this dissertation I present, thus, a ‘local’ multi-scalar approach to transnationality in the case study of Africans in Guangzhou. The dissertation is divided into five chapters. In the first chapter, I present a historical overview of Guangzhou, focusing on the spatial conditions that facilitated the arrival (and continued presence) of foreigners in the city. I place an emphasis on highlighting how Africans articulate with China’s transprovincial migrants (and other populations) at the local level, and I problematise extant conceptualisations about the sociospatial formations emerging in the city. In Chapter 2, I explore how certain material formations have emerged after the arrival of foreigners to the city. I provide an ethnographic account of how multiple multiethnic interactions are mediated through certain objects and practices (that I construe as repositories, or sites, of the transnational). In Chapter 3, through the analysis of grassroots forms of organisation amongst Africans in the city, I discuss issues of placemaking and mobility and offer an insight into the complex relations between transnational movement, emplacement, identity, ‘homing’ and citizenship. In Chapter 4, I focus on the hopes, desires, and possibilities, what I call the ‘landscapes of aspiration’, amongst African musicians in the city. I argue that aspirations are crucial drives that not only move and motivate people but that help individuals to navigate through, and make sense of, their transnational journeys. Finally, Chapter 5 presents a theoretical discussion that advocates for a re-conceptualisation of the ‘transnational’ (and transnational mobilities) away from methodological nationalism. I argue that methodological nationalism is a burden that thwarts understandings of the multiple dimensions of contemporary forms of human movement.

Censorship is an important cultural regulatory instrument for the government of a society, or even a state. In certain socio-political settings, it can become a powerful administrative appartus (dispositif) and technique (techne) designed to render society governable. Censorship decisions often embody hegemonic views on social and political issues. No matter how virtuous the original intent maybe, the practice of censorship is inevitably geared to the social tensions surrounding issues of human rights and political dissent. The theory behind film censorship may once have been benign but banning or cutting a movie always involves an unnatural set of procedures and actions. This study examines this problem in the context of socio-political changes in Hong Kong. It is an enquiry into the evolution of political film censoship in its more conventional form to its full-fledged integration into other institutions and policies under today's 'on country, two systems' policy. It also analyses the discourse surrounding the changes in film censorship practices from the days of early cinema to Hong Kong in the 21st century. By contextualizing Hong Kong cinema from a historical and political perspective, the study of the Hong Kong experience aims to shed light on censorship's socio-political meanings for, and effects on, filmmakers and film production.

本論文疏理台灣民主化過程中，訴諸「超越藍綠統獨」的「台灣」民主共同體形構及其「中國」想像。「超越藍綠」是分析對象，包括1980年代末以來國民黨與民進黨的「藍綠」政治論述，以及「超越藍綠」的社會運動論述，想像「中國」是分析當中台灣主體形構的「中國」想像，參照「香港」是以香港的「中國」想像為對照，並試圖回應「今日香港明日台灣」的說法。 本論文分為四章節：「中國統一」與「台灣獨立」、國民黨與民進黨的「藍綠統獨」、知識批判界與社會運動的「超越藍綠」，香港的「中國」想像。本論文指出，台灣國民黨的反共「中國統一」與反國民黨的「台灣獨立」意義，是訴諸他者「中國」的威脅，建構政治現代化的自我。在此論述下，國民黨與民進黨在國家認同與兩岸主張上，形成「藍綠統獨對立」的立場，但各自政治論述又共同召喚面對「中國」（中共）的政治與經濟危機想像，共構政治上捍衛台灣「主權－民主」完整與經濟上追求兩岸「經濟發展共榮」的共同體想像。社運與批判知識界的「超越藍綠」，雖然企圖超越藍綠民粹化的對立，並修補政黨輪替後民進黨執政的「民主創傷」，但隨著國民黨重新執政與強調兩岸共榮的中國政策/超越藍綠」接合「藍綠」的「中國」迫切焦慮，從解決內部「民主創傷」轉為「捍衛台灣民主」、對抗外部「中國因素」的政治修辭，藍綠政黨也挪用此修辭標榜自身優於對方政黨的正當性。「超越藍綠」成為消費性的符碼，陷入「藍綠統獨」的迴圈。香港的「中國」想像，則凸顯「中國」內在於香港人民基層歷史與日常生活中，有難以切割的距離，進而問題化「香港」與「中國」的對立指稱，是台灣重新想像「中國」的可能參照。 知識批判上，本論文疏理台灣「藍綠統獨對立」問題的「中國」論述，作為未來「中國」轉向的討論基礎。政治意義上，本論文反思政治「藍綠」到社會運動「超越藍綠」的民粹化困境。最後，本論文嘗試提出「人民」與「階級」的「第三方」，作為超克前述困境與「中國」想像侷限的未來方向。

这是一个关于人的成长和转变的叙事研究。本研究的问题意识是：一方面，1990 年代以来，伴随着中国社会的进一步市场化，青年文化呈现出去政治化、物质主义、“小时代”的窄化的走向。越来越多的青年人希望进入“体制”，以求得社会认可、物质有保障之生活。但另一方面，1990 年代以来亦是中国民间非政府组织（NGO）迅速发展的时期，一小部分青年人选择在NGO 工作。然而，NGO 长期以来面临着公众的不理解、政府一定程度的漠视甚至猜测以及物质上的低回报。本研究正是希望进入NGO 工作者的生命故事，理解他们为何逆社会窄化的价值之流、选择在NGO 工作，形成了怎样的文化以及如何形成这一文化。另一方面，本研究亦希望向组织内部回观以批判性地分析NGO 携带的意识形态、操演等如何对工作者的价值观和行为产生不经意的影响，以期改造其身处之社会脉络。 因此，本研究试图回答的研究问题是：在1980 年代以来的社会脉络之下，“80 后”NGO 工作者如何与发展主义和“小时代”的青年文化、以及NGO 内部的文化与操作进行协商？形成了怎样的价值观和行为方式？ 本研究通过叙事研究方法，深入理解10 位NGO 工作者的生命故事和日常实践。采取Dorothy Holland 等(1998)的形意世界(figured worlds)理论视角，本研究认为：一方面，NGO 工作者在参与NGO 的过程中增进了自我认识和成长，对社会发展有更深的理解和反思，并且形成一定的介入社会和公共生活的行动。另一方面，NGO 的操作中，可能带有缩窄批判思考和开放的学习多种思想资源的空间，缺乏对社会问题成因和解决方案的深入分析与公开论述，习惯性地以“主流”/“另类”二元简化的分析视角，这无益于NGO 工作者的成长，也可能阻碍NGO 对于社会和人的改造的工作。

This dissertation explores the universality of trauma-storing in the body and the need for contextualization when it comes to treatment. Of the two central themes addressed, the first is war-related trauma and the intersection of expressive arts therapy and South (East) Asia (Nepal and Hong Kong in particular) with its specific imagery, art, and culture, and to see how both feed into each another and can transform as a result. The question is how to locally sensitize expressive arts therapy, which has its roots in Europe and the United States, to the Hong Kong setting; more specifically, to working with Nepali women who try to make Hong Kong their new home. The dissertation suggests a holistic, locally, and culturally sensitive approach to expressive arts therapy. This means adjusting the expressive arts framework and practices to the local and cultural setting, as well as looking at the resources (myths, dance forms, breathing practices, rituals, etc.) present in the local culture and including them in the anthropological approach to trauma transformation. The second theme addressed is the importance of critically reflecting on power within therapeutic relationships, especially in trauma treatment, and recognizing the ontological underpinnings underlying therapy as well as our ‘human self-concept’, which leads to the acknowledgement of only a certain type of human experience, that of conscious, self-aware subjects in control of their acts. The latter leaves little room for understanding traumatic experiences, in which trauma victims seem to be unable to remember or shape the traumatic event. In Walter Benjamin’s dissertation, any kind of representation of our personal and collective identities is seen as a curation. When approaching history as a ‘collection’ of memories, it creates room for traumatic experiences to exist. Benjamin’s dissertation is applied to understanding trauma in such a way where it is precisely the discontinuity, the disparities, the ruptures of history and memory that make trauma visible; these are the gifts handed to the next generation. It is the piecing together of fragments and uncertainties that transforms trauma into a space of insight, creating meaning from what is known and unknown, bridging the stories and images of history present in our implicit and explicit memory. In the critical reflection on traumatology, a Foucauldian approach is taken regarding the therapist-client relationship. Foucault speaks of a top-down apparatus with policies that act under the guise of ‘protect and serve’, and language that frames the clients as a helpless victim in need of ‘betterment’ by the therapist. The only way for therapists to tackle the problem of trauma and psychotherapy, and to admit its social/cultural construction and the role of power, is to read themselves into the problem, to go beyond one-way mirroring, to analyze their pathology, and attempt to change patterns of communication that reproduce the psy-complex apparatus. In this thesis the latter is done by including the creative and analytic reflections of expressive arts therapists and of the author herself.

While the LGBT equal rights movements in Hong Kong have become increasingly visible and popular in recent years, and lesbians, when compared to homosexual male, seem to enjoy high visibility in the city’s public space and relevant safety from violent discrimination, their presence in the public sphere continue to be low. Writings by local queer activists and scholars such as Mary Kam Pui Wai (2001) and Denise Tang (2011) point out that instead of violent attacks, since the beginning of local LGBT activism, female have been facing systematic silencing and marginalizing within the community, their presence invisible, and their problems often ignored or trivialized. However, lesbians are not imagined to be, and do not perceive themselves as, the most oppressed and disadvantageous members within the larger LGBT community. This study proposes that this seeming apolitical attitude and lack of acknowledgement of their marginalized position are the results of the unique “lesbian learning” taken place in the Hong Kong context that render their positions invisible and their problems unspeakable. I want not only to explore what these young women conceptualize as lesbian identity and sexuality, but through proposing the notion “lesbian learning”, offer a new framework to articulate and examine the formation and construction of the “field of sensible” that conditions their learning about lesbian(ism) in terms of perceptual equipment, information flow, as well as strategies of management and application, to see the meanings attributed to this identity, and the nuanced struggle for and negotiation of their lesbian identity formation, as both gender and sexual identity. The findings of this study shows that their conceptualization of lesbian identity as gender and sexual identity is largely conditioned by how they have learned to be female, with normative gender social expectations having a huge influence on how they perceive their sexual identity and sexuality, and their priority. Through documenting and examining the process of their learning the lesbian identity and ways of managing it, I hope to shed light on the mechanisms behind the social construction of female subjectivity that conditioned the specific configuration of lesbian identity and sexuality in the Hong Kong context, and the close ties between the two. To this end, 26 women between the ages of 20 - 30 were interviewed, additionally I spent 2 years conducting in-depth follow-up interviews and participant observation. With the help of social constructionist accounts of contextualization, interactionist accounts of meaning-making, the theory of sexual scripts, and Foucauldian notions of discourse and discipline, I seek to analyze how the Hong Kong lesbian subject is created, maintained, and regulated, both within different institutions operating at specific sites, namely family, school, and pornography, and by the lesbians themselves. By proposing the notion of “lesbian learning”, this study seeks to offer a new methodological tool of intervention, to examine the network of conditions of intersectional positions, and the negotiated agency of their understanding and imagination of identity, gender, and sexuality in the context of Hong Kong.

Tout au long du XIXe siècle, le gouvernement des Établissements français de l’Inde promet de respecter les us et coutumes des Indiens. Il s’engage notamment à juger les habitants de ses établissements suivant ces us et coutumes. Il forge ainsi une catégorie juridique pour désigner les conflits coutumiers pris en charge par la justice coloniale : les « affaires de caste ».Cette étude des affaires de caste contribue aux développements récents des recherches d’histoire impériale et coloniale sur la formation du droit. Elle rejoint les travaux actuels qui remettent en cause l’idée que le droit colonial est imposé par le haut, suivant une logique rationnelle, et montrent qu’au contraire, il est le fruit de compositions avec les formes juridiques précoloniales et les possibilités locales. La thèse étudie spécifiquement les processus de composition à l’œuvre dans le façonnement du système juridique en matière de caste. Le système juridique, entendu comme l’ensemble des règles de droit, les institutions chargées de les appliquer et les usages de ces institutions, est envisagé dans son rapport aux demandes sociales. Cette approche localisée de la situation coloniale apporte de plus un éclairage nouveau sur la société indienne dans le sud du sous-continent. Elle participe ainsi au débat sur la constitution des castes comme unité sociale et comme catégorie administrative à la période coloniale. Le système juridique est examiné sous différents angles. Dans un premier temps, la focale est placée sur les cadres coloniaux des affaires de caste et les modalités d’expression de la souveraineté du gouvernement colonial. Dans un second temps, l’attention est tournée vers les différents acteurs de la résolution des conflits, qui participent au façonnement de ces cadres. Pour finir, l’étude s’arrête sur la forme et les enjeux des litiges, de manière à saisir le rôle des justiciables dans la production des normes sociales et juridiques / In the course of the 19th century, the government of the French settlements of India promises to respect the habits and customs of the Indian people. It also commits to judge the inhabitants of these settlements according to these customs and habits. It consequently creates a legal category to designate the customary conflicts judged by the colonial justice: the “caste affairs”. This study of caste affairs contributes to the recent developments in imperial and colonial history on the formation of the law. It resonates with the current works that question the idea of colonial law being imposed in a top-down fashion following a rational logic and that show that, on the contrary, colonial law results from arrangements with precolonial legal forms and local possibilities. The thesis specifically studies the process that shapes the legal system regarding castes. The legal system, understood as all the legal rules, the institutions in charge of enforcing them, and the use of these institutions, is analysed in its relationship with social demands. Furthermore, this localised analysis of the colonial situation, shed new lights on the Indian society of the south of the sub-continent. It contributes to the debates on the constitution of castes as a social unit and administrative category in the colonial period. The legal system is analysed from different perspectives. First, the focus is put on the colonial frameworks governing the caste affairs and on the ways in which the sovereignty of the colonial government is articulated. Second, the study gives attention to the different actors involved in the resolution of these conflicts, which participates to the shaping of these frameworks. To finish with, the study focuses on the forms and stakes of disputes in order to understand the role of the litigants in the production of social and legal norms

El motivo para la realización del presente trabajo de investigación, se centra en la perspectiva de la gestión del patrimonio cultural, ligada con el manejo del paisaje cultural, dentro de un contexto ideológico, republicano y contemporáneo del mundo andino. Además, esta la idea de cómo perciben los habitantes de la circunscripción el cambio del paisaje a través de la introducción de infraestructura turística y cuál es la concepción de la sacralidad y paisaje cultural intangible que ellos tienen, luego cómo perciben los habitantes del área de estudio la actitud de la montaña del Salkantay frente a la introducción de infraestructura turística, de cómo se degrada el paisaje cultural con el uso inadecuado de su espacio circundante. Por otro lado, como la construcción de la infraestructura turística (hoteles), trae como consecuencia una alteración drástica del carácter sagrado de la montaña en estudio y finalmente sugerir un manejo multidisciplinario de acuerdo a los estándares internacionales ofrecidos a través de la experiencia y de entidades como la UNESCO. PALABRAS CLAVE: Paisaje cultural, ideológico, montaña, sacralidad, geografía sagrada, multidisciplinario. / --- The reason for the realization of this research focuses on the perspective of cultural heritage management, linked to the management of the cultural landscape, within an ideological, context, prehispanic, colonial, republican and contemporary of the Andean world. Besides this the idea of how they perceive the inhabitants of the district landscape change through the introduction of tourism infrastructure and what is the concept of intangible cultural landscape sacred and they have, then how they perceive the inhabitants of the study area attitude Salkantay mountain against the introduction of tourism infrastructure, how the cultural landscape degrades the inappropriate use of the surrounding space. On the other hand, the construction of tourist infrastructure (hotels), results in a drastic alteration of the sacredness of the mountain in study and finally suggest a multidisciplinary management according to international standards offered through experience and entities such as UNESCO. KEYWORDS: Cultural landscape, Ideological, Mountain, Sacrelity, Sacred Geography, Multidisciplinary. / Tesis

La presente tesis “Museo de la Inmigración en Lima” habla sobre la inmigración masiva ocurrida en la década de los 40s en la ciudad. Cultura limeña y provinciana encontradas cuando muchos peruanos provenientes de distintas partes tuvieron que migrar a la capital, dejando sus tierras atrás. El museo tiene como principal motivación revalidar el esfuerzo, el aporte cultural, y el papel significativo que tuvieron los inmigrantes andinos en la formación de la ciudad de Lima. La propuesta arquitectónica inserta al proyecto en una zona histórica para la inmigración de la época, rodeado de hitos actualmente importantes en la ciudad. Siendo el primer museo en tratar sobre la inmigración andina en el Perú, se pretende explicar el fenómeno migratorio y a su vez albergar registros históricos, para de esta manera recuperar parte de la historia de la ciudad, para esta generación y las generaciones futuras. Teniendo como finalidad crear una identificación y conocimiento sobre la multiculturalidad que convive en Lima. Además, que el proyecto funcione como espacio público integrador en el cual la población pueda participar de forma activa. / The present thesis "Museo de la Inmigración en Lima" talks about the massive immigration that took place in the decade of the 40s in the city. Lima and provincial culture found when many Peruvians from different parts of the country had to move to the capital, leaving their lands behind. This museum is inspired by the migrant effort, their cultural contribution, and the significant role that they had in forming the new city of Lima. The architectural proposal inserts the project into a historic area for the immigration, surrounded by many important landmarks in the city. Being the first museum to deal with Andean immigration in Peru, it is intended to explain the migratory phenomenon and in turn keep historical records, to recover part of the history of the city, for this generation and future ones. With the purpose of creating an identification and knowledge about multiculturalism that lives in Lima. In addition, that the project works as an integrating public space in which the visitors can participate actively. / Tesis

Museums are deeply symbolic institutions that communicate complex systems of belief and value through various channels and at various levels. Thus museums function as cultural metaphors. It is hypothesized that the metaphoric properties of a museum can be discovered through the application of ethnographic and critical methods of study. This is such a study of an individual museum, the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona. This study was designed to gather data about the Heard and critically analyze and interpret them using metaphor as the sense-making construct to determine meaning and significance. A critical examination of the museum--its physical space, collection, exhibitions, programs, internal organization, staffing, and other human activities--is paired with data from interviews with staff, volunteers, and visitors. These data are interpreted through the application of various paradigmatic cultural metaphors. The result is a synthesis of the museum as a cultural institution, with implications for policy development at the Heard Museum and for research on similar cultural institutions. It is found that the Heard Museum is a powerfully metaphoric and symbolic structure, embodying a number of deeply-held conceptual systems that resonate at the nexus of several cultures. The findings are discussed in relationship to social and cultural changes currently taking place in America and to the methodological questions surrounding inception of the study, and conclusions and recommendations are posited, both for researchers and for museum professionals. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 53-03, Section: A, page: 0694. / Major Professor: Tom Anderson. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1992.