2016/2017 Janey Workshop: Douglas de Toledo Piza
Janey Fellow Douglas de Toledo Piza will be presenting his ongoing work based on the Janey Summer Fellowship.
MERCANTILE ACUPUNCTURE: CHINESE DIASPORA ENGAGEMENT TOWARDS OVERSEAS IN SÃO PAULO
Abstract: Based on archival research, interviews, and ethnographic observation, this paper explores the diaspora engagement enacted by the Chinese government towards overseas in São Paulo (Brazil). How different actors, policies, and goals shape the Chinese diaspora engagement towards this community? How this specific type of engagement articulates with China’s broader technologies of governing its mobile population? Drawing from the Foucauldian perspective of governmentality applied to migration studies, I argue that Chinese local governments engage with the overseas in São Paulo through ethnic associations with the aim of promoting trade. I provisionally advance the notion of “mercantile acupuncture” to capture the set of practices enacted by the Chinese local governments with the purposes of promoting trade through technologies of diasporic governmentality. By doing so, this paper contributes to the debate on diaspora engagement in two ways: by delving into how subnational actors shape diaspora engagement, and by exploring the how diaspora engagement intersects with the migration-trade nexus.
The session will take place in the building located on 79 5th Ave between 15th St and 16th St. Room D 1618 (16th Floor)