Modernity Meets Tradition: the Changing Local Life in China (AAS-in-Asia 2025)
Nepal
Organization: Association for Asian Studies
Event: AAS-in-Asia 2025
This CFP is for a proposed panel for AAS-in-Asia Conference in 2025. Please see the full information on the cconference: https://www.asianstudies.org/conferences/aas-in-asia/call-for-proposals/
China has long been exoticized and marginalized by the West, partly due to its unique culture and geographic distance. However, since the "Westernization Movement" in the 19th century, modernity of China has been influenced by the West in various ways, which has made profound changes and impacts Chinese people’s life and fostered rapid urbanization.
In the contemporary era, China’s progress in modernity and urbanization continues to reshape not only its economic landscape but also people’s living environments and cultural practices. These transformations have reflected the influence of Westernization and globalization, yet contributing to new tensions and paradoxes within Chinese society.
One of the most pressing challenges is the loss of local social and cultural diversity amid the pressures of modernization. As urbanization and global influences converge, they generate a process of cultural homogenization that disrupts traditional social systems and lifestyles. This "social entropy"—a tendency towards uniformity—raises urgent questions about the sustainability of local diversity in China, which is essential for preserving collective knowledge and identity.
This panel seeks to explore the complex, paradoxical outcomes of modernity in China. We will address key questions, including: How have urbanization and modernity altered people’s daily lives in China? What paradoxes arise from this process, and how do they shape social, cultural, and environmental realities? Exploring these questions is essential, as China’s diverse and long-standing history offers valuable lessons about the importance of pluralism. Through a multidisciplinary lens, this panel aims to foster deeper discussions about the diversity issues in a rapidly changing China.
Please seubmit a maximum 250-word proposal to the listed email plus a short biography.
https://www.asianstudies.org/conferences/aas-in-asia/call-for-proposals/
HYJ