Week 1
The appearance of the Chinese retail shops in Jamaica can be analyzed from two different point of views. On the one hand, the formation of capitalism created by the Chinese business owners damages the relationships between two groups of people. As described by Goffe, even though the population of the Chinese represents less than 2 percent of the entire population of Jamaica, the Chinese shops still occupies a considerable amount of the entire countries economy. Due to this exact situation, a subtle form of colonization and capitalism shows its impact on the native Jamaicans. While the export of Jamaican country music being one of the most profound profits of the country, the Chinese businessmen played a great role in the process. They were accused of unfairly making profits off the native people who show also be benefited much more from the production. Bringing their relatives to fill in the missing positions, the Chinese shop owners damages the economy of Jamaica and reaps benefits themselves, hence created conflicts between the two people and damages the relationship at the same time. On the other hand, music production brings the two people closer as well. The Chinese shops, described by Goffe, offers “a space for leisure and lyrical, musical exchange for average working Jamaicans” (Goffe, page 99). Hence, the existence of the Chinese shops boosts the innovation and production of the new genre, reggae and bring these two groups of people much closer.
Week 2
The concept of settler colonialism is that a party that is in power comes to a new land and decides to destroy and manipulate the current existing system of government and economy in that land and hence claiming this land as one of their newly acquired territory. Due to metanarrtive, a concept where the history is told from the point of view of the ones that were in charge, we were not able to view the history from all perspectives. I’m glad that I could gather more information from a different point of view which could give me a better understanding of the whole picture of the history when it comes to the Chinese /US relationship and how Hawaii played its role in history. Escaping from numerous disasters happened back in East Asia, the Chinese traveled west to seek for other opportunities of living, which they eventually arrives at Hawaii and start merging themselves as a part of the system in Hawaii. Instead of taking over, like what the US later on did to Hawaii, the Chinese people successively merged in and became a part of the economy. the Chinese, Japanese, and native Hawaiians were working and living together. However, the United States annexed Hawaii for the reason being that they were trying to stop the Chinese and Japanese from annexing the island. They pretty much eliminated the current existing government and system in Hawaii and put the native people in disadvantage. Such act is a typical example of settler colonialism. In my opinion, the Caribbean and British imperialism shares similarities with settler colonialism, where they also employed their own system after destroy the existing system and hence put the native people in disadvantage.
Week 3
The reason why both Liang Qichao and He Zhen developed their own polical views on China while they were away from the country is that by leaving the country and placing themselves in a total different environment, where people viewed China and treated the Chinese people differently, they were able to view the country from different point of views themselves and hence find the pros and cons existing in the system that they couldn’t observe before. Just like the concept of master narrative, being in China and hearing the opinions on the country by the native Chinese provides only a part of the story. By moving to a different place, they are able to hear the voice of the unheard ones. I do have a similar experience as well. Back in high school, I participated in my schools exchange program where I got the chance to exchange with a student in France for a quarter. While in France, I learned a lot about how people viewed some global crisis really differently in the United States, which brings me more opinions on them and the ability to look at the bigger pictures more clearly. The reason why their view diverged is that they focus on different sets of problems. Liang’s opinion was influnced by the nationalism that existed in Hawaii, where he mainly focuses on the conflicts between different race of people, where He’s mainlys discusses the gender inequalities in her article when it comes to the political aspect in China.
Week 4
In my opinion, I think the major reason why numerous Koreans decided to speak up and put direct action against Japanese colonial rule is that the international climate and power configuration had dramatically changed as the result of the end of the World War I. As the rest of the world were seeking peace and freedom, the Koreans, who had suffered under the inhumane regime of Japan, also seek the freedom and independence of the peninsula. The language of the the March 1, 1919 Declaration of Independence plays an important role without doubt. It is this exact declaration that united the Koreans and evoked the deep feeling of craving for independence inside them. At the same time, other factors, such as them suffering for decades which built up the anger and hope for independence inside them, Syngman Rhee attending the Versailles conference and speaking up for the Korean people, undeniably encouraged people to stand up again the colonist from Japan. All the factors are necessary, in my opinion. Without any of those, the action that we saw might not had happened at that time, although it would happen eventually. From my personal experience, the day where I had to wake up extremely early to pick up my parents at the airport, I saw so many people were jogging and working out early in the morning, which got me thinking about how my lifestyle was not as healthy as it should be and prompted me to change my lifestyle and started eating healthy and working out as such. This is similar to what had happened in Korea, as they saw other countries at the peach conference seeking for their own independence, the Koreans ought to seek their own at the same time.
Week 5
Focusing on the suppression that the Korean workers were facing from the Soaikai on top of the unfair treatment that they have already received from the Japanese government adds on another layer of misery to the Korean workers, or the working class as a whole when it comes to their life in Japan. As described by the professor in this week’s lecture, the triggering factor of Taki Seihi strike is the “culmination of tensions with the company that had been mounting for 2 years.” (Professor Matsumura, Week 5’s lecture, slide 4)
It is this exact double oppression that becomes one of the most profound influence on the Taki Seihi strike. I think this week’s material can be linked back to week 1’s content where we discussed the capitalism. The situation here for the Korean workers is a representation of capitalism, in my opinion. The welfare unfairly treated the worker and takes away the rights from the them for its own benefit. The lover story of between Mr. Kim and Matsuo Shina can be seen as the little strike of their own. In the lecture from last week, the professor mention how Matsuo Shina escaped from her hometown to a bigger city with Mr. Kim, who was a worker in the Taki Seihi factory. The fact that they ran away from there show how much of am unfairness and oppression that the workers were facing. Running away from it is a form of a strike in its own since they all represent how unbearable the system is to the workers.
