Asia Shorts. Ann Arbor, MI: Association for Asian Studies (distributed by Columbia University Press), 2022. 200 pp. (Figures, B&W photos.) US$16.00, paper. ISBN 9781952636295.
Who is the Asianist? is a result of a webinar organized by the Association for Asian Studies inspired by the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement’s struggle for racial justice. The book aims to raise critical and hitherto hidden or ignored issues of positionality, race, and Blackness within Asian studies, in academia, and in Asian societies themselves. The background to and the need for this book is discussed in a very well-written introductory chapter. The volume begins with two chapters that address the issue of positionality and who is or is not expected to be an Asianist, and the prejudices and obstacles encountered by those who, due to their ethnicity or race, don’t conform to conventional norms and expectations of an Asianist and what Asian studies focuses on. Of particular interest is the first chapter, a conversation between two authors, Hoda Bandeh-Ahmadi, an Iranian American, and Isabel Huacuja Alonso, a Chicana/Mexican American, who testify to the many questions and obstacles they met with when they chose to focus on South Asia rather than societies closer to their own backgrounds. The chapter raises important questions of biases, gatekeeping, and lack of mentoring for non-white and non-Asian scholars. The next chapter, by Carolyn T. Brown, traces the career of a Black Asianist in the US, whereas a chapter by Kimberley Hassel that deals with the BLM movement in Japan also provides some autoethnographic reflections on the racist experiences of a researcher of colour in Japan. In all these cases their own backgrounds have in fact helped them identify and explore new topics of research and forced them to reflect upon their own, and others’, positionality.
Several chapters provide insightful perspectives on the history of race and Blackness in different Asian societies. Ha Guangtian’s chapter shows that negative views and discrimination against Blacks have a long history in both China and Persia that well predates the transatlantic slave trade and contemporary racism. Ha provides a fascinating historical study of inter-Asian connections and slavery based on both textual and visual materials, which underscores the need for more comparative, historical, and transregional studies on Blackness and racism. The chapter by Jeremey Tai analyzes Chinese writings on race, with a particular focus on discussions on racial capitalism and contacts with Black activists in the first decades of the People’s Republic of China. These early debates and official positions, although somewhat promising, were limited in that they externalized racism. Contemporary developments, including in particular the othering of Muslims in China as evidenced in surveillance, detention, and assimilation policies in Xinjiang, as well as online censorship, also prevented the BLM movement from being picked up in China, in contrast to Japan and Vietnam.
Kristin Roebuck discusses how Japan seems to have been more tolerant of “race mixing” during its imperial period as it fitted the mission of creating a unified empire, whereas defeat in World War II made the country and some of its scientists more obsessed with preserving a perceived pure Japanese race and thus national identity. The author makes a convincing case for analyzing the sociopolitical reasons behind these developments and also argues for a de-Westernized and truly global history of race science. In contrast to this quite disturbing story of Japanese race scientists, Felicity Stone-Richard discusses how a Japanese feminist and an Ainu activist found inspiration in and devoted themselves to introducing Afro-American feminist writers to a Japanese audience. They were motivated by racist elements in their own society, and believed that learning about race relations and problems in the US would also help fight racism in Japan.
Three of the chapters focus on the BLM movement’s reception and development in Japan, West Papua, and Vietnam. They illustrate how different historical factors and socio-political contexts shaped the reception and extent to which BLM found resonance with different local communities. In both Japan and Vietnam the general perception is that racism does not exist in their seemingly homogenous countries. While those addressing the topic of racism and BLM in Japan often have themselves been exposed to racism, being hafu (mixed-race), in Vietnam it seems to have been mostly the younger generation who were involved, without personal backgrounds. Sadly, in both countries those who took up the BLM call and addressed racism in their own societies were often criticized and received racist and derogatory comments on social media. The case of West Papua is of particular interest as Papuans have long been subject to racism and discrimination in Indonesia and to this day continue to struggle for recognition and justice. For them the connection with the BLM movement inspired the development of Papuan Lives Matter; the support they received globally is a good example of transregional connections and solidarity.
The three chapters that deal with different historical periods, actors, and modes of engagement on race and racism in Japan illustrate the complex and evolving histories of racism in one single country, as well as the importance of looking beyond a single country to uncover the equally complex transnational connections and inspirations.
Given European countries’ complex histories and engagement with both Africa and Asia as well as contemporary racism, it is a pity that the book doesn’t include more European voices and perspectives, although the French and Dutch colonial presence in Vietnam and Indonesia are addressed in two of the chapters. Issues of positionality, representation, and race in academia within Asian studies in European countries thus awaits further exploration. The book contributes to the reinvigoration and development of Asian studies, which has struggled with its colonial and Cold War origins but otherwise has often been more preoccupied with the disciplines versus area studies debates. Thus far Asian studies has often ignored issues of race and Blackness and also lacked a sustained engagement with ethnic studies and Black studies, so this book is a welcome attempt to re-address this situation and also pay attention to the growing field of Afro-Asian studies.
Marina Svensson
Lund University, Lund