China
The study of Chinese culture and society has become a major focus of Goldsmiths research in recent years, naturally traversing the terrain between politics and the media, between sociology and the arts.By working with leading Chinese curators, media professionals and architects we are enriching our own research and at the same time developing a shared understanding of the powerful role of the cultural industries in both countries.
Chris Berry has been researching Chinese cinema since the 1980s, when he was the only foreigner working full-time in the Chinese film industry. His Postsocialist Cinema in Post-Mao China: The Cultural Revolution after the Cultural Revolution tracks the beginnings of the huge transformation that has overtaken China since Mao's death in 1976. He is currently working on a monograph on Hong Kong director Stanley Kwan's Lan Yu (2001), and together with Professor Pang Laikwan of Chinese University of Hong Kong he is undertaking a research project (supported by the Hong Kong Research Grants Council) into the convergence of Hong Kong, Taiwan and Chinese cinema under globalization.
Michael Dutton's research is characterized by a strong interest in contemporary social and cultural theory wedded to a specific 'archive' called China. 'It was out of researching this archive,' Michael writes, 'that I have developed an interest in the passion of politics. In particular I developed an interest in the forces of passion that propelled the Chinese revolution yet have since Mao all but disappeared, being replaced by a myriad of dreams and desires that ultimately leads us back into the Market.' If his last book, Policing Chinese Politics, flagged this transition in China through the story of the police, his next (Beijing Time, 2008) weaves it into the tale of a city, Beijing. Yet this book shifts the focus so that the different cultures of politics and their effect on everyday life shine through, by looking at the different political cosmologies (dynastic, imperialist, socialist and now market) that have made a mark on this city landscape.Through a series of ethnographic vignettes, the book develops a political anthropology of various communities, unearthing old city dwellers, ragpickers, punk rockers and avant-garde artists.
Risk Culture in China', supported by the ESRC, brings a sociological perspective to the study of world economy and finance. Scott Lash and Michael Keith are leading a study of incomplete financial markets and not-fully-developed financial institutions in China, drawing on the sociology of risk and complexity. Six cases studies include property developers and investment banks, with a focus on technological media: each has a specific risk culture, a function of a unique 'organisational memory' that derives from a history of encounters with the financial environment. The research highlights political risk by tracking a series of international investment projects with a high degree of state interaction, and advances our understanding of ways in which financial markets and financial policies influence major global issues.
Working with Drama Research Fellow Aiping Guo, Robert Gordon has since 2006 been advising on the establishment in Beijing of a specialist postgraduate training centre for musical theatre led by Wang Shi, head of the state-sponsored Chinese Culture Promotion Society. As traditional Chinese theatre has always involved a heterogeneous mix of singing, acting, dancing and acrobatics, it is natural that Chinese theatre practitioners look to western forms of musical theatre to provide models for the forms of theatre they wish to develop. 'The lack of modern Chinese musicals has stimulated us to explore the possibilities of creating an 'inter-cultural' musical based on a Chinese narrative and themes,' Robert explains. The challenge is to develop through practice both an art work and a method of working that might be useful as a model for future practice.
Goldsmiths is a popular choice for Chinese students. Xiaohui Qu, a former MA Media and Communications student, won a return trip to the UK - top prize in an essay competition set by the British Council in China.