By studying different cultures, through artifacts found in their now desolate, but previously thriving communities, we can look at the details of their beliefs, ideas, attitudes and assumptions of a particular society at a given time. A common theme in this course has been the idea of knowledge and power and how they correlate to each other. As you grew up you may have heard the saying “Knowledge is Power” but during this semester we are looking at a number of different text and artifacts that suggest that Power produces knowledge. This means people in positions of power create a “truth” or master narrative that will unite the common people in order to fulfill the elite class’s agenda disregarding the common people’s well-being. By looking at these artifacts found in the Downtown San Jose Chinatown that was burned in the late 1800s, we can see how these Chinese immigrants lived and maybe even answers to how and why their home was torched. …show more content…
The immigrants thrived in their Chinese community. This San Jose Chinatown, the largest Chinatown south of San Francisco was mysterious and deliberately set ablaze on May 4, 1887 by anti-Chinese arsons. City officials scraped away the ruins and buried most evidence of the community for over 100 years. These Chinese pioneers were instrumental to the economic success of the Santa Clara county but the ignorant hate and greed for power out shined their beneficial attributes and led to their
The Chinese laborers were signed to five-year contracts, after those five years around half returned to China while the other half stayed, creating Honolulu’s Chinatown. The neighborhood quickly grew with around 6,000 people occupying it. But in 1886 a fire broke out and destroyed eight blocks of Chinatown. The government responded to this fire by putting building restrictions, sadly none of those were enforced causing more rickety buildings to be built. In 1900 Chinatown became quarantined thanks to the Black Death. An answer to this solution was “sanitary fires” to try to prevent further spread of the disease.
The cultural revolution is a strange period in Chinese history laced with intense struggle and anguish. The cultural revolution mobilized the all of society to compete for all opposing factions that they belonged to (Ong, 2016). Mao mobilized the young people of society during a background of political turmoil, which helped Mao to mobilize the students in order to enforce his political legitimacy and ideas (Ong, 2016). Mao’s charismatic authority created his personality cult and most defiantly leant a helping hand in mobilizing the red guard movement (Ong, 2016) (Weber, 1946) (Andreas, 2007). No matter which faction of the red guard they belonged to, they all mobilized against their common enemy; the better off, upper class. (Ong, 2016). Multiple ideologies within the youth led red guard movement explain why the movement gained momentum and became incredibly powerful (Walder, 2009).
In Jan Wong’s entrancing expose Red China Blues, she details her plight to take part in a system of “harmony and perfection” (12) that was Maoist China. Wong discloses her trials and tribulations over a course of three decades that sees her searching for her roots and her transformation of ideologies that span over two distinctive forms of Communist governments. This tale is so enticing in due part to the events the author encountered that radically changed her very existence and more importantly, her personal quest for self-discovery.
This memoir of Ma Bo’s sent shock waves throughout China when it was published and was even first banned by the Communist Government. This passionate story paints a clear picture for what the Great Chinese Cultural Revolution was really like. Many Chinese living today can attest to similar if not identical ordeals as expressed in Ma Bo’s story. The toils of being a young Red Guard in inner China were experienced by many if not millions. The horrors and atrocities were wide spread throughout the country, not just in Inner Mongolia. The experiences illustrated in Blood Red Sunset uniquely belong to Ma Bo’s entire generation of mislead Chinese. As expressed in the books dedication the Cultural Revolution
Applying Class Concepts to “Where the Spirit Lives” Provide as many specific examples of each of the following concepts from “Where the Spirit Lives”: Framework: How the dominant group maintains power (Both Pharr and Weber’s frameworks): Institutional Power Political control: laws/policies/criminal justice system - The “Whites” lawfully took the children from their Native land - The school creating rules forbidding native practices of the Indian children Ideological control: control of ideas through education, religion, media, etc. - The ideas and practices of Christianity were completely forced on the Native American people.
To lack knowledge someone should know by heart is a daily conundrum existing with Equality and the rest of the society, for the single exception of the House of Scholars, which even there, little of the knowledge we hold is taught there. Equality had other plans, however. He seeked knowledge, not a street sweeper job, another “sin” on his conscious. After discovering a tunnel to the underground, he held it secret, as too keep it safe, and a place to be truly private. By
During the California Gold Rush in the mid 1800s, the United States saw an influx of immigrants from different parts of the world. The Chinese in particular were desperately trying to escape deplorable economic conditions in their native country. When the dream of harvesting gold turned elusive in California, they sought employment doing hard labor in the railroad construction. As this line of work eventually dried up as well, a few daring Chinese immigrants decided to explore Colorado in the 1860s. Attracted by the Colorado Gold Rush, they established Denver’s Chinatown. As William Wei writes: “The neighborhood was established around 1870 on Wazee Street between fifteenth and seventeenth Street.” This area of town became known by the white population as “Hop Alley,” it also became infamous because of the establishment of opium dens, where there was alleged gambling and prostitution. The claim that these vices were rampant in Chinatown were grossly exaggerated and it was mostly white patrons who visited the opium dens. The origin of these claims was due to a campaign aimed at
Human beings, desire to maintain a connection with the past is achieved through the languages spoken, the various cultures practiced, and sadly through acquiring of cultural property by the means of grave robbing. Native Americans wanted justice for these past mistreatments and control over their history. According to Chip Colwell, campaigning, repatriation of indigenous artifacts began in the 1960s by indigenous activism. Finally, on November 16, 1990, The United States Government passed The Native American Graves Protection and Reparation Act. NAGPRA summarizes that museums must conduct an inventory of all native American cultural artifacts and remains. (Native) In addition, Museums send the inventories to federally recognized tribes, in
In the early 1800’s industrialization of the northeast and other national endeavors such as railroads and road building required much manual labor. This vast manual labor job market opened the flood gates into the United States for immigrants seeking prosperity and a better life for themselves and their families. By the mid 1800’s many Chinese immigrants had made the voyage to the U.S. and sought work mainly in the factories of the prosperous northeast as well as the California gold mines. Culturally the Chinese people’s actions are motivated by the concept of bringing honor and respect to the family as a whole, and less concerned about individual successes or prestige, which resulted in Chinese immigrant’s willingness to do high quality work for long hours for very little pay. This was beneficial to the employer and company, but displaced many other immigrant workers which caused racial tensions. Chinese immigrants were accustomed to living in tight quarters, working together as families or community units and making do with what was available. These qualities assisted in the development of China Towns, housing and cultural centers for the Chinese immigrant population, near or in the large cities where their populations were greatest such as New York and San Francisco as. Many Americans viewed these China Towns as unsanitary and unhealthy brothels where prostitution and smoking opium was commonplace.
In her paper, “The ‘revenge of history’: China’s collective memories and labor protests in north eastern China,” Ching Kwan Lee describes how China’s market reform has led to mass unemployment and poverty among state workers in the rustbelt of China. This declining standard of living has resulted a nostalgia for Maoist socialism, in what she calls “the revenge of history,” or the idea that those who have benefited the most from socialistic policies lost the most after the market reforms. The plight of these workers is dramatized in the movie “Blind Shaft,” where Li Yang tells the story of two con artists who trick migrant workers into joining them in the coal mines, only to kill them in the mines and reap profits in the form of “hush money” from the corrupt owners of the mines. Lee’s idea of the “revenge of history” is useful for interpreting this movie, because it provides context for the events depicted, allowing the audience to gain a better understanding of the motivations of the con artists. At first glance, the con artists are just greedy men, looking to make a quick profit. Looking from the Lee’s perspective, however, shows that these men are forced into this situation because of the poverty pushed onto them by capitalistic market reforms. Lee’s metaphor of “the revenge of history” allows the audience to gain a more complex and nuanced view of the characters Song Jinming and
Modern day power originates from the mind in that we give certain figures power based upon man-made forms of value or worth like money. The definition of power has fluctuated throughout time, and while the past may have emphasized the more violent aspects, today, we have shifted towards a more control based interpretation. Both Michael Foucault and John Berger delve into the idea of power and its functionality. Based on their texts, in our current socio-cultural setting, power is best exploited when the concept behind the power is deindividualized for many purposes, internalized by the people, and integrated throughout society to the point that its origins is mystified.
The United States is known as a free country, and has become a popular destination for many to immigrate to. Along with this immigration, came many problems and controversy since the 1790s and still continues to raise concerns today. The immigration problems in the late 1800s and 1900s are very similar to today. This is evident in the different complications and disputes that occurred in the late 1800s and 1900s all the way to 2015.
In the 1800s, after the Civil War (1861 to 1865), massive waves of new settlers migrated to the United States. May these were Chinese immigrants who sought to take advantage of the Gold Rush in California. Most of them were men, without family. Between that time, hundreds and hundreds of Chinese immigrants arrived, mostly in San Francisco, where they established a place called “Chinatown.” Establishing the place helped encouraged around four thousand Chinese women per year to immigrate to the United States, to be with their husband or father, helping Chinamen managing household. The gold attracted so many immigrants to California, and the desired for wealth attracted Southerners, who brought with them their racial attitude from the south. Work was well paying; a prejudice against Chinese was born. Hate and violence accompanied the competence against Chinese; and brutality against
Knowledge and power are two metaphysical notions that play important roles within society. Power is demonstrated through physical or mental prowess but the power of knowledge is greater as it directs action through thinking. This ability to think allows for plans to come to fruition after meticulous planning, which makes knowledge man’s greatest weapon to overpower his fellow man. French philosopher, Michel Foucault realized the correlation between the two, stating, “Power and knowledge are not seen as independent entities but are inextricably related – knowledge is always an exercise of power and power always a function of knowledge” (“Michel Foucault”). J.M. Coetzee illustrates the theory in Waiting for the Barbarians as the colonial Empire encroaches on native lands through its use of propaganda. In Coetzee’s novel, the relationship between knowledge and power is evident through the corrupted Empire’s manipulation of its denizens to wage war against the barbarians which relates to Foucault’s theory of the correlation between power and knowledge.
A world of system designed to keep people in unjust and unequal positions is held in place by several interrelated expression of "power over": political power, economic power, physical force, and ideological power (Bishop, 1994: 36). So, we can say power is defined as a possession of control, authority or influence over others. In terms of power of dominant groups over subordinate groups, we define power as domination of one group of people over another in major important spheres of life. Power inequities have been in existence throughout the history of humanity and the ways of manifestation evolved from extreme overt oppression to subtle, covert oppression. Three major forms of power inequalities discussed in this paper are