Researchers on Chinese Overseas Meet
Over the past decade, research on the Chinese communities in the Netherlands and Europe has definitely increased but, until now, this has largely been individually based and dispersed over organizations that usually do not co-operate. For that reason, the IIAS Branch Office in Amsterdam and Platform ASiA of the University of Amsterdam took the initiative to convene the researchers concerned in order to look for the chances and means to improve co-ordination and co-operation.
* By LEO DOUW & MARIO RUTTEN
On 9 February a meeting to this purpose was held in the Spinhuis at the University of Amsterdam About twenty respondents to our call to attended and presented their research and views on future co-operation. It appeared that a large variety of research topics is pursued in the Netherlands on Chinese communities, including research on mental health problems, political representation, local history, social care, and media use. Moreover, this type of research addresses several of the different communities of Chinese who reside in the Netherlands. They include the post-war immigrants from Indonesia, the various groups of recent refugees from China, and the restaurateurs from Wenzhou and Hong Kong. These groups often have very different social and cultural characteristics.
The recent research interest in the Chinese communities in the Netherlands and Europe is related to various factors. Firstly, the Chinese immigrant communities have become more vocal as compared to their almost complete silence in the past. Secondly, China has become increasingly important in global politics and as a result, so have the links between China and people of Chinese descent residing abroad. Thirdly, there is an apparent interest in research on Chinese communities within the Chinese organizations themselves and within the welfare and political organizations in the European countries.
The research tradition and expertise available at Dutch universities and elsewhere can be used to sustain and supplement research outside the academic sphere and create links among researchers, and between researchers and social and political organizations that are working in the field. During the discussions at the meeting in Amsterdam, there appeared to be a definite interest in developing these linkages and contacts for mutual profit and also to involve researchers of non-Chinese ethnic communities in order to make comparisons and avoid ethnic stereotyping. It was decided to compile a list of researchers and organizations which are active in the field and which have a desire to develop co-operative projects. A follow-up meeting has been contemplated for next autumn, as well, during which current research will be presented and for which representatives of relevant social and political organizations will be invited. *
Dr Leo Douw is lecturer of Modern Asian History at the University of Amsterdam and the Free University Amsterdam
E-mail: lm.douw@let.vu.nl
Dr Mario Rutten is a sociologist with a research interest in entrepreneurs in Asia and in the Indian diaspora.
E-mail: mrutten@pscw.uva.nl