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The Social Organization of an Urban Diaspora: Corporate Groups, Factions and Networks amongst Penang's Malaysian-Chinese

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2024

Christian Giordano
Christian Giordano*
Affiliation:
University of Fribourg, Switzerland
*
Christian Giordano, University of Fribourg, Avenue de l’Europe 20, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland. Email: christian.giordano@unifr.ch
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Abstract

The social organization of the Chinese diaspora in Malaysia has emerged as a very diversified phenomenon so that it is hard to speak of a coherent social and cultural community. Starting from the case of George Town (Penang), a port city once part of the British Empire and subsequently incorporated in present-day Malaysia, the article will illustrate the various forms of social organization developed by the Chinese in the longue durée. The analysis of the Chinese diaspora in George Town (Penang) based on long-term fieldwork helps to draw attention especially to its internal tensions, rivalries and even open and at times enduring conflicts. Through the notions of network and corporate group, distinctive of the Manchester school, by means of a dynamic analysis, thus mindful of specific historical processes, this article will examine the underlying modalities of organizational changes that occurred in this diasporic society within the colonial and national societies. Thus, the article avoids an essentialist vision based on a uniformity and cultural unity of these immigrant communities.

Keywords

diasporanetworkcorporate groupconflictGeorge TownMalaysia

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Type
Articles
Information
Diogenes , Volume 63 , Issue 3-4: Urban Anthropology , August 2016 , pp. 91 - 99
Copyright
Copyright © ICPHS 2018

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