From Local Cemeteries to the Global Circulation of Social Imaginaries: Changing Forms of and Forums for Solidarity in Chinese Diaspora Communities, 1850-1960

Summary

Along with large-scale trade and migration, 19th and early 20th century globalization was marked by the circulation, transformation, and global integration of social imaginaries, and the resulting development of structures that would ultimately channel and constrict further movements. The expansion of Chinese diaspora communities across the Pacific and into the Americas was one of the major population movements of this period. The networks that made it possible for individuals to participate in this movement, though based on personal and particularistic ties, were ultimately instrumental in the development  and spread of larger-encompassing forms of identity and solidarity - including new forms of nationalism.

Drawing on ongoing research on the emergence of commemorative traditions across Chinese cemeteries in Hawaii and western North America, this talk explores how changing conceptions informed funerary and commemorative practice in different but interconnected cities, and examines the kinds of personal interactions through which social imaginaries were globalized. 

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• The Final Cut: Death and Burial Through the Ages   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2013

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 692