Week 6-China by Ogee

Through the past decade China has reinvented themselves from the bottom up. Focus on “cultural autonomy” (Ding, 301) became key to the current success. The modernization required a change in the direction of the nationalism China had and the global opinion about China. In global politics China had to redirect the negative opinions of China because of the past of Communist China. In global economic, China at first decided to participate by being the mass producers; therefore creating the labels and stereotypes of “Made in China” (Ding, 302). That being said, the significant change comes from the prowess of unification, planning, and most importantly mobilization of China and what they produce. The most current form of prowess was the building of and presenting of the “Bird’s Nest stadium” (Latham, 42). The structure itself was built in a short amount of time. The event was highly coordinated and the participants in the entertainment were trained to be completely in unison. This show and building allowed China to present themselves as a country who can be at the same level if not better in production, culture, and competence.

Question: Despite the current show and progress that China has made, does following a westernized strategy erase aspects of Chinese culture or nation?

Works Cited:

Ding, Sheng. "Branding a Rising China: An Analysis of Beijing’s National Image Management in the Age of China’s Rise."Journal of Asian and African Studies 46.3 (2011): 293-306. Web. 5 Feb. 2016.

<https://smartsite.ucdavis.edu/access/content/group/58e7fd2e-d414-41d6-98f9-cb933c1abad6/Weekly%20Readings/Week6/Beijings%20National%20Image%20Branding.pdf>.

Latham, Kevin. "Media, the Olympics and the Search for the “Real China”*." The China Quarterly 197(2009): 25-43. Web. 5 Feb. 2016. <https://smartsite.ucdavis.edu/access/content/group/58e7fd2e-d414-41d6-98f9-cb933c1abad6/Weekly%20Readings/Week6/Search%20for%20the%20Real%20China.pdf>.

Images:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1e/Beijing_national_stadium.jpg

http://www.chinatoday.com/entertain/china.funny.pictures/olympic.bird.nest.11.jpg