United States Internationalism and Chinese Modernity

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Motoe Sasaki
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Role Models ◽  
Chinese Women ◽  
The United States ◽  
Women Missionaries ◽  
Chinese Modernity ◽  
Liberal Internationalism ◽  
New Women ◽  
The World ◽  
New Generation

This chapter takes up the rising tide of internationalism in the United States during the 1910s and examines how a new generation of New Women, who entertained the international spirit buoyed by burgeoning Wilsonian liberal internationalism, perceived the United States' place in the world and their own role in China. Within U.S. borders, internationalism was first conceived as a way to consolidate its increasingly culturally diverse populace under the banner of universal democracy. It was in countries such as China that this notion of the universality of U.S. ideals and values was put to the test. In China, the new generation of internationally minded New Women missionaries found a pleasing reality—the existence of a favorable image of the United States—and became even more convinced of the validity of their internationalism. The favorable image of the United States also meant that American New Women missionaries could become desirable role models for Chinese women: at their institutions, Chinese xin nüxing students earnestly responded to the expectation of their teachers, and these young Chinese women evolved into genuine New Women in line with the principle put forth by American New Women missionaries.

Divergent Paths of Historical Progress

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Motoe Sasaki
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Great Depression ◽  
The United States ◽  
Women Missionaries ◽  
New Women ◽  
The Great Depression ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Historical Progress ◽  
The World ◽  
Entire World

During the late 1920s and early 1930s, American New Women became more aware of the widening psychological gap between them and their Chinese counterparts. This chapter explores the transformation that occurred among these women regarding their understanding of historical progress, perceptions of their country, and ideas about their own role in China. It was also during this same period, one of national revolution, that the Great Depression exposed the failure of the capitalist economic system (strongly associated with the United States) to the entire world and triggered a change in American New Women missionaries' views toward the place their country occupied in the historical progress of the world. As a result, Chinese xin nüxing began turning their interest away from becoming like American New Women missionaries—urban middle-class professionals. Instead, they became increasingly sympathetic to the plight of the poor, especially those in the countryside, and to the idea of socialism.

Awash in the Storm of National Revolution

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Motoe Sasaki
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Gender Differences ◽  
The United States ◽  
Women Missionaries ◽  
New Developments ◽  
New Women ◽  
New Ideas

This chapter explores the aftermath of the collapse of the Wilsonian moment and its uneven and gendered effects on American New Women missionaries' enterprises in the Nationalist Revolution period (1924–27). It was at this time that the missionaries came to feel the power of the national revolution movement and found their projects were being reframed within new ideas and articulated in a new vocabulary that had become current in China. In taking such changes into account, they had to interpret and respond to new developments and ultimately reconsider their own perceptions of the United States and the very nature of their existence in China. Local Chinese resistance to their educational projects and institutions directed toward American New Women missionaries also brought into play gender differences and issues among the Chinese themselves and consequently made the difficulties facing the missionaries all the more complex and entrenched.

Science as the Key to Modern Progress

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Motoe Sasaki
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Gender Roles ◽  
Modern Science ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
The United States ◽  
Women Missionaries ◽  
New Women ◽  
Early Twentieth Century ◽  
Modernization Process

This chapter shows how the notion of modern science brought to China by American New Women missionaries in the form of medicine and nursing generated concrete responses from their Chinese counterparts. The notion of science as a universally applicable and fundamentally egalitarian element for the development of a modern society and its constituents was increasingly influential in both the United States and China during the early twentieth century. Consequently, American New Women missionaries were able to establish their status as scientific professionals whose expertise could contribute to China's modernization process. At the same time, however, their faith in the new notion of science brought with it the idea of “separate but equal” gender roles, which brought them into conflict with many of their male counterparts from the United States who wanted to compete with other imperial powers to gain influence in China.

Common Songs of the Cultural Heritage of the United States: A Compilation of Songs That Most People “Know” and “Should Know”

2000 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 310-322
Author(s):  
Kenneth M. McGuire
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
The United States ◽  
The World ◽  
New Generation

Recently, there have been attempts to identify songs common to the heritage of the United States. Although researchers in previous investigations have studied songs that are common to specific geographical areas, this studys purpose was to determine which songs are familiar to U.S. citizens across several regions and also to uncover various epistemological definitions of what it means to “know” a song. By cross-referencing modern lists with the contents of two songbooks popular during the community song movements of the World Wars I and II, I sought to determine which songs were common across the eras studied. Also important to this study was finding out how many of the 42 songs listed in MENC's Get American Singing … Again! (1996) appeared in previous investigations and in either of the community song movement books. Results indicated that there is a disparity between the songs that Americans actually know and those that experts say they should be learning. Experts seem to be more in agreement with songbook editors of previous eras than with people who are currently learning and re-creating a new generation of common songs. Finally, 38% of the songs included on MENC's list were not found in any previous study or in either of the community songbooks, raising questions about their inclusion on a national list.

Lost in the Paradigm of World History

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Motoe Sasaki
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
Public Memory ◽  
World History ◽  
The United States ◽  
Women Missionaries ◽  
World War ◽  
Post World War Ii ◽  
New Women ◽  
Global Relations

This chapter discusses the eventual repatriation of American New Women missionaries. After they returned to the United States, many of them felt lost in their own country. There was also a profound difference between the views of returning American New Women missionaries and the general American public about the United States' role in world history. The chapter also raises the important question of how and why the experiences of New Women in both the United States and China fell into oblivion in the post-World War II era. The erasure of their experiences from public memory suggests that the politics of world history has not relaxed its grip on shaping global relations in a unipolar, bipolar, or even multipolar world.

Somewhere Between Civilization and Savagery

2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 199-228
Author(s):  
Mathew Brundage
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Religious Conversion ◽  
Chinese Women ◽  
The United States ◽  
Common Theme ◽  
Unique Role ◽  
China Trade ◽  
The World ◽  
The Face

This article examines the language in mid-19th Century accounts emphasizing Chinese cultural “stagnation” in the face of growing American influence in East Asia to investigate the emergence of a belief in the rising position of the United States on the world stage. This construction played off of critical observations that attempted to explain how the China trade was strong enough to be of u.s. national interest, while at the same time clarifying how the Chinese were weak enough to succumb to foreign influence. As such, Americans attempted to diagnose and cure the ills of stagnation through intervention. From religious conversion, to economic expansion, to cultural influence, Americans proposed a litany of solutions to China’s problems. A common theme within these larger tropes focused on the unique role that Chinese women played in American hopes for enacting change in China. In defining Chinese stagnation, Americans betrayed their own perspectives on the role of women in society and attempted to influence Chinese women to adopt that idealized model as the means by which the United States could profit from elevating China into the ranks of modern civilized nations.

The New Woman and World History

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Motoe Sasaki
Keyword(s):  
New Woman ◽  
Chinese Women ◽  
World History ◽  
The United States ◽  
Women Missionaries ◽  
New Women ◽  
Historical Progress ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
The New Woman

This introductory chapter sets out the book's purpose, which is to trace the experiences of American New Women missionaries who went to China during the early twentieth century in order to uplift and modernize young Chinese women. By examining the transformations in the significance of American New Women missionaries' enterprises in China, it shows that views of historical progress on both sides of the Pacific were central to the formation and reformation of the subjectivities of New Women, American and Chinese alike. The book takes the position that the New Woman was also a source of agency tightly entangled with the competition for survival and the idea of historical progress in an age in which modernity was being adopted and incorporated in non-Western countries such as China. Consequently, the rationale for the existence of enterprises undertaken by American New Women missionaries and their relationship with Chinese New Women was contingent on the fluid relations and perceptions between the United States and China, which were shaped, negotiated, and contested within the paradigm of Hegelian variants of world history.

The Choice Is Ours — Now

Worldview ◽  
1968 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-15
Author(s):  
Philip M. Klutznick
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Military Power ◽  
Kennedy Round ◽  
Economic Power ◽  
The People ◽  
The World ◽  
New Generation ◽  
The Military

I welcome an opportunity to briefly examine Walt Rostow's contention that we are at a watershed. I am inclined to accept the generic proposition, although it will become apparent that the premises with which we support the conclusion differ.Vietnam can well be the last great confrontation of the postwar era if we learn the lessons of Vietnam as well as others of recent years. Vietnam is providing an excellent modern example of the limitations of enormous military power. In another area, the Kennedy round, which was completed some months ago, there is also provided a classic example of the limitations of enormous economic power. If the people of the United States and especially its leadership can profit from the experiences of recent months on the military and economic fronts, then Mr. Rostow's thesis that we are at a watershed should prove valid. If we fail to understand or misinterpret what is happening, then it is possible that Mr. Washburn and the new generation are in for the kind of difficulties that could arise from a major decline in the affluence and influence of the United States. Naturally, every American might selfishly view such a prospect with great concern; I am sufficiently chauvinistic about our nation's potential for good that I view it with alarm for the world as a whole.

Sex Differences in Mass Media Preferences Across Four Asian Countries

2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 186-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malini Ratnasingam ◽  
Lee Ellis
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Sex Differences ◽  
Mass Media ◽  
The United States ◽  
Female Students ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Evolutionary Explanation ◽  
Asian Countries ◽  
The World ◽  
Media Preferences

Background. Nearly all of the research on sex differences in mass media utilization has been based on samples from the United States and a few other Western countries. Aim. The present study examines sex differences in mass media utilization in four Asian countries (Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, and Singapore). Methods. College students self-reported the frequency with which they accessed the following five mass media outlets: television dramas, televised news and documentaries, music, newspapers and magazines, and the Internet. Results. Two significant sex differences were found when participants from the four countries were considered as a whole: Women watched television dramas more than did men; and in Japan, female students listened to music more than did their male counterparts. Limitations. A wider array of mass media outlets could have been explored. Conclusions. Findings were largely consistent with results from studies conducted elsewhere in the world, particularly regarding sex differences in television drama viewing. A neurohormonal evolutionary explanation is offered for the basic findings.

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