Jennifer Hubbert - China in the World: An Anthropology of Confucius Institutes, Soft Power, and Globalization

2019 University of Hawaii Press
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Hubbert, Jennifer Ann, author.
Title: China in the world: an anthropology of Confucius Institutes, soft power, and globalization / Jennifer Hubbert.
Description: Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, [2019] | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018036238 | ISBN 9780824878207 (cloth; alk. paper), Kindle 9780824878559 EPUB 9780824878542 PDF 9780824878535
Subjects: LCSH: Kongzi xue yuan. | Chinese languageStudy and teachingForeign speakers. | Chinese languageGlobalization. | Cultural diplomacyChina.
Classification: LCC PL1069.K66 H83 2019 | DDC 306.441/951dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018036238

University of Hawaii Press books are printed on acid-free paper and meet the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Council on Library Resources.

Cover photo: Statue of Confucius at the Imperial College (Guozijian) in Beijing, China (October 18, 2015). beibaoke / Shutterstock.com

I scarcely know where to begin in acknowledging the intellectual and personal sources of inspiration amassed over the years spent researching and writing this book, although I must begin with the hundreds of students, parents, teachers, and administrators in the Confucius Institute programs I have interviewed over the years and the schools that have hosted me. By necessity these educational institutions and interlocutors remain anonymous, but my heartfelt thanks to those who patiently explained the Chinese programs to me, shared their joys and concerns, hopes and sorrows, cannot be overexpressed.

I first conceptualized this project over a long writing retreat weekend with two other anthropologists who have over the past twenty-plus years become central to my intellectual endeavors and general well-being. Lisa Hoffman and I met when my oldest child, who graduated from college the year this book went to press, was not yet walking, and we began writing our dissertations together. We added Monica DeHart to our mix a few years later and spent the next several decades meeting at roadside truck stops, bed-and-breakfast inns, remote cabins, and anthropology conferences to swap manuscripts and ponder the curveballs of life. Their imprint rests on each page of this book and my debt to their collaborations over the years knows no bounds.

Others over the years have read and provided vital commentary on various pieces of this manuscript. Jennifer Hsu, Oren Kosansky, Dawn Odell, and Eileen Otis offered sound suggestions on different chapters, and David Campion reined in my vocabulary excesses. A special thank-you goes to Anne Grossman, who dragged me out of my office (not often enough) to work in brighter venues. I am pretty sure that over the years we lugged our computers to every coffee shop and wine bar in town. The gracious anonymous reviewers of this manuscript similarly deserve recognition and gratitude for pointing out my theoretical inconsistencies and directing me to potential reader misunderstandings. All remaining imperfections are, of course, my own. viii

I have long felt as if I won the job lottery with my position at Lewis & Clark College. My colleagues have been intellectually stimulating and always supportive and my students inspiring in their enthusiasm for knowledge; collectively they have listened to numerous talks on the subject of Confucius Institutes, have provided excellent feedback, and are mercifully consistent in sending me links to news media on the subject that I might have missed. I would also like to express my gratitude to Lewis & Clarks Office of the Dean, which supplied research money over the years, and to Lorry Lokey, whose Faculty Excellence Award provided much of the financial support needed to complete this project.

Portions of this book were presented at the University of Oregon, the University of Southern California, and assorted annual meetings sponsored by the Association for Asian Studies, the American Anthropological Association, and the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences, and my deliberations on the subject have benefited from audience feedback at these venues. were published by the University of Southern Californias Center on Public Diplomacy working paper series (2014).

Lastly, my foremost and most heartfelt thanks belong to my family, who over the years of research and writing this book have suffered through long periods of both physical absence and mental absentmindedness. My two children, Nathan and Isabelle, now young adults off on adventures of their own, have been models for me of intellectual curiosity and compassion, and Jay, who was instrumental in encouraging me to pursue my interest in anthropology way back when, has always been a stimulating intellectual companion, gentle critic, staunch supporter, and very, very patient spouse. Your pesto pastas have nurtured my appetite and my soul.