China’s Confucius Institute in Indonesia: Mobility, Frictions and Local Surprises
Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Utrecht University, PO Box 80115, 3508 TC Utrecht, The Netherlands
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Sustainability 2018, 10(2), 530; https://doi.org/10.3390/su10020530
Received: 24 January 2018 / Revised: 12 February 2018 / Accepted: 13 February 2018 / Published: 16 February 2018
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Development at the Crossroads of Capital Flows and Migration: Leaving no One Behind?)
China’s cross-border language promotion body, the Confucius Institute (CI), has proliferated along with the mobility of Chinese capital and people worldwide. It embodies the ‘Going Out’ state strategy that promotes the global spread of Chinese capital, ideas, culture and people. Often seen as a vehicle of China’s power and influence, the CI has attracted much suspicion and even rejection as compared to similar institutions of other states. This paper examines the mobility of the CI and the encountered frictions when it lands in particular places, problematizing the commonly assumed unidirectional impact of the cross-border institution as a mighty soft power instrument. Specifically, it analyses the frictions of the CI’s establishment in Indonesia, where racial and political narratives on China and Chinese-Indonesians have long prevailed. Three cases are presented: one at the national level in Jakarta and two at the local level in the cities of Bandung and Makassar. By elaborating how frictions are created, resisted and managed differently, this paper illustrates the interplay of actors and power relations in the mobility of the CI, which in turn gives rise to particular local surprises. This paper also underlines the role of the Chinese-Indonesian diaspora as important bridge-builders of their two homelands.
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Keywords:
mobility; friction; Confucius Institute; soft power; China; Indonesia
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MDPI and ACS Style
Theo, R.; Leung, M.W.H. China’s Confucius Institute in Indonesia: Mobility, Frictions and Local Surprises. Sustainability 2018, 10, 530. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10020530
AMA Style
Theo R, Leung MWH. China’s Confucius Institute in Indonesia: Mobility, Frictions and Local Surprises. Sustainability. 2018; 10(2):530. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10020530
Chicago/Turabian StyleTheo, Rika; Leung, Maggi W.H. 2018. "China’s Confucius Institute in Indonesia: Mobility, Frictions and Local Surprises" Sustainability 10, no. 2: 530. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10020530
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