Culture and Privilege in Capitalist Asia

Description

The Asian financial crisis has distracted attention from the realities of a growing affluent class in Asia. this latest volume in the New Rich in Asia series the authors examine the cultural reconfiguration, consumer behaviour, economic success and cultural status of the new rich. Case studies from Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, India and China paint a picture of the real significance of the affluent classes and their effect on national, ethnic and religious restructuring. BOOK COVER HALF-TITLE TITLE COPYRIGHT CONTENTS TABLES NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS PREFACE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 1 Cultural relations, class and the new rich of Asia INTRODUCTION CULTURE, POLITICAL ECONOMY AND CLASS CHANGING CLASS AND STATUS CONFIGURATIONS IN ASIA WEALTH PRODUCTION: CONFUCIANISM, ETHNICITY AND THE NEW RICH FROM FRUGAL CAPITALIST TO HIGH-STATUS CONSUMER WEALTH CONSUMPTION AND STATUS CONTESTATION LABELS, CATEGORIES AND CLASSES: EAST AND WEST CONCLUSION NOTES BIBLIOGRAPHY 2 Consumption, social differentiation and self-definition of the new rich in industrialising Southeast Asia INTRODUCTION ETHNIC IDENTIFICATION OF THE NEW RICH? CONSUMPTION, CLASS AND IDENTITY OPEN ACCESS ACADEMIES OF SOCIAL DIFFERENTIATION FROM CONSUMPTION TO LIFESTYLES: HOUSING ESTATES CONCLUSION NOTES BIBLIOGRAPHY 3 From Orang Kaya Baru to Melayu Baru THE MALAY NEW RIGH: POPULAR IDEAS AND ANALYTICAL ELABORATIONS IDENTITY POLITICS AND CULTURAL PREDICAMENT OF THE NEW MALAY NEW RICH Making Orang Kaya Baru: the economic dimension of a nationalist project From Orang Kaya Baru to Melayu Baru: old and new Malay new rich CONCLUSION: THE MELAYU BARU CULTURAL PREDICAMENT IN MALAYSIA’S POST-TRADITIONAL SOCIAL ORDER Note Bibliography 4 The contribution of a Japanese firm to the cultural construction of the new rich in Malaysia INTRODUCTION MALAYSIA’S INDUSTRIALISATION State, culture and class Japanese management MANAGERIAL CAREERS—THE CASE OF IROHA (M) Recruitment of local managers New-rich career paths Sanusi—old middle class to manager Rahman: NEP graduate to manager Ridzuan: worker to manager SOCIETY, CULTURE AND MALAYSIA’S NEW RICH Lifestyle and social interaction Senior managers: patronage and ethnicity New graduates: work ethics and Muslim identity CONCLUSION Notes Bibliography 5 Singapore A CLASS STRUCTURE IN SINGAPORE HOMOGENISED POLITICAL ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIOUR BETWEEN GENERATIONS, ACROSS CLASSES: CONSUMING YOUTH NEW RICH MIDDLE CLASS: OF CARS AND PRIVATE PROPERTIES ASPIRING WORKING CLASS THE RICH: PRIVILEGE OF WEALTH THE POLITICS OF THE LOWEST 20 PER CENT CONCLUSION Notes Bibliography 6 The years of living luxuriously THE OLD RICH PRESSING AGENDA OF THE NEW RICH THE NEW MIDDLE CLASS: TOWARDS A BOURGEOIS HEGEMONY? CULTURALISATION OF THE NEW RICH ASIANISATION OF ASIA: GOOD BUY, THE WEST RETURN OF THE DRAGON ‘NEW’ MUSLIMS THE PAINS OF AGEING CONCLUSION: THE POLITICS OF LIFESTYLE Notes Bibliography 7 The new rich and cultural tensions in rural Indonesia THE RURAL NEW RICH IN THEIR CONTEXT THE AGE OF MONEY COMMUNITY SPIRIT AND COUNTER-MODERNITY TENSIONS AND RESPONSES CONCLUSION POSTSCRIPT Notes Bibliography 8 How a revolution becomes a dinner party INTRODUCTION MAKING IT IN CONTEMPORARY BEIJING CLASS, CONNECTIONS AND MAKING MONEY REPUTATION, CONSUMPTION AND GETTING AHEAD IN URBAN CHINA CONCLUSION Notes Bibliography 9 Creating the Thai middle class DISCOVERING THE MIDDLE CLASS IN THAI HISTORY DISCARDING THE MIDDLE CLASS ‘NEW’ MIDDLE CLASSES: THE RISE OF THE NEW RICH CONSTRUCTING THE POLITICAL MIDDLE CLASS CAPITALISM AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE MIDDLE CLASS THE MOBILE TELEPHONE MOB AND THE 1992 UPRISING CONCLUSION Notes Bibliography 10 The state, globalisation and Indian middle-class identity THE STATE, ECONOMIC LIBERALISATION AND THE NEW RICH MIDDLE-CLASS CONSUMERISM: GLOBAL COMMODITIES AND LOCAL CONTEXTS CONSTRUCTIONS OF MIDDLE-CLASS STATUS AND MIDDLE-CLASS IDENTITY CONCLUSION Notes Bibliography 11 Entrepreneurship, consumption, ethnicity and national identity in the making of the Philippines’ new rich INTRODUCTION: A NEW ERA? THE RISE OF THE PHILIPPINE NEW RICH ‘BUILDING A NATION OF ENTREPRENEURS’ ‘LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL’ CONCLUSION Notes Bibliography Index