1.

Examples of concepts to identify and explain the significance for the course:
Conspicuous consumption theory of conspicuous consumption and conspicuous leisure occurred in the early days of the U.S. industrial revolution. Thorstein Veblen, The Theory of the Leisure Class Luxury goods were items to be consumed conspicuously. Mass produced items were less so. In pre 1940s U.S. luxury goods, such as imports from France, handled by exclusive department stores and were primarily consumed by the rich. Veblens theory is less convincing when applied to the middle and lower class in the U.S. before the middle 1900s. In the first half of the twentieth century, large firms needed large numbers of consumers, and therefore tended to produce for the middle and lower classes. For example, the Model T Ford, Levi Jeans, Fleischmanns yeast Who do we discover we are? Veblen: A century ago conspicuous consumption and conspicuous leisure was something only the rich could do, but now it is a game we all can play. We can all engage in some form of it. We just have to pick what form of conspicuousness we want. Cars, electronic products, travel, food and cooking, entertainment, virtual games, home dcor

Localization processes

Keiretsu Zaibatsu reconstructed as vertical and horizontal keiretsu (horizontal = large firms in all industries) (vertical = large firms at the top, and then thousands of production firms connected to this) One setism as an economic strategy for business groups Large firm, vertically integrated business groups. o Japan, the keiretsu networks o South Korea, the chaebol o Taiwan, the guanxichiye Organization of ownership and control o Keiretsu, a community of ownership, joint share holding, with main bank in the center, debt financed capitalism. In Japan and South Korea, the capitalist economies are dominated by large vertically integrated conglomerates, which also dominate the export sectors of production.

Chinese proverb: Every family rises and falls in three generations

Retail concentration

BAIR (Bureaucratic-authoritarian, industrializing regimes) o Cummings By the mid 1960s both Taiwan and South Korea possessed strong states that bear much comparison to the prewar Japanese model, and to the bureaucratic-authoritarian states in Latin America. Termed NICs (Newly Industrializing Countries) in much of the literature, the Taiwan and Korean variants deserve a more accurate acronym. I shall call them BAIRs, or Bureaucratic-Authoritarian Industrializing Regimes. These states are ubiquitous in economy and society: penetrating, comprehensive, highly articulated, and relatively autonomous of particular groups and classes. Furthermore, especially in Korea, state power accumulated considerably just as the ROK began a deepening industrialization program in steel, chemicals, ships, and automobiles. Taiwan has developed planning agencies and bureaucracies to go with its existing strong state, but with society weak the state has had neither the occasion nor the necessity to deepen or change its features: once strong for retaking the mainland and guaranteeing KMT power, it is today strong for economic development. (27) o All in all the BAIR provides a potent mix, fusing state and economic power in pursuit of comparative

advantage in world markets (32) The BAIR model-relative state autonomy, central coordination, bureaucratic short- and long-range planning, high flexibility in moving in and out of industrial sectors, private concentration in big conglomerates, exclusion of labor, exploitation of women, low expenditures on social welfare and, in prewar Japan and contemporary South Korea and Taiwan, militarization and authoritarian repression-is found in all three nations (38)

1. How is the head of a Chinese family firm able to centralize and maintain authority over his subordinates? Market, Culture, and Authority The industrial patterns in Taiwan reflect the same invigoration of Chinese commercial practices found in late imperial China and in Southeast Asia. As analysts have noted in all these locations Chinese businesses develop on the basis of small family-run firms and personalistic networks linking firms backward to sources of supply and forward to consumers. Two sets of factors account for the prevalence of these small family firms. The first set concerns the nature of the Chinese family system. The Japanese family system is based on a household unit and on primogeniture; younger sons must start households of their own. In contrast, the Chinese system is based on patrilineage and equal inheritance among all sons. The eldest son has seniority but no particular privileges in regard to property or authority over property. Because all males remain in the line of descent, the patrilineage quickly expands within just a few generations. Adoption of a son into any household is considered improper, and the only approved way is to adopt the son of a kinsman. Equally privileged sons connected to networks of relatives create a situation of bifurcated loyalties, with wealth itself becoming a measure of one's standing in the community of relatives. Accordingly, conflict between sons is ubiquitous, intralineage rivalries are common, and lineage segmentation is the rule. Hence, the argument goes, besides the lineage and the state, there is no central integrating unit in Chinese society, and the lineage itself breeds as much conflict as unity. Therefore, it is difficult in Chinese society to build a large cohesive group. This leads to a closely related set of explanations of how Chinese businesses are run. The Chinese firm duplicates family structure; the head of the household is the head of the firm, family members are the core employees, and sons are the ones who will inherit the firm. If the firm prospers, the family will reinvest its profits in branch establishments or more likely in unrelated but commercially promising business ventures. Different family members run the different enterprises, and at the death of the head of household the family assets are divided (fenjia) by allocating separate enterprises to the surviving sons, each of whom attempts to expand his own firm as did the father. In this way, the assets of a Chinese family are always considered divisible, control of the assets is always considered family business, and decisions (in normative terms) should be made in light of long-term family interests This pattern leads to what might be described as a "nesting box" system of Chinese management. In the small, innermost box are those core family members who own or will inherit the business; in the next box are more distant relatives and friends who owe their positions to their connection with the owners and who are in a position to influence and be influenced by them; in the next outer boxes are ranks of unrelated people who work in the firm for money. Depending on the size of the firm, the outer boxes may contain ranks of professional managers, technicians, supervisors, and other craftspeople. The outermost box would include unskilled wage laborers. This pattern of business organization is most stable when the business is fairly small. Loyalty among unrelated employees is often low, which makes personalistic connections an essential part of management strategy. The preference is always to begin one's own small business if one has sufficient capital to do so; as the Chinese saying goes, "It is better to be a rooster's beak than a cow's tail!" Because everyone works in small- to medium-sized firms, Chinese have historically developed techniques to aid forward and backward linkages. These techniques include putting-out systems, satellite factory systems, and a variety of distribution networks often based on personalistic ties. In fact, so complex and all- encompassing are these various techniques, and seemingly so efficient, that they contribute to keeping businesses fairly small and investment patterns directed toward conglomerate accumulations rather than vertical integration.

2. Cumings argues that industrial development in Northeast Asia is a regional phenomenon. What does he mean by regional and why is this perspective important?

When one is compared to another the differences will also be salient, but when all three are compared to the rest of the world the similarities are remarkable. (38) Industrial development in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan cannot be considered as an individual country phenomenon; instead, it is a regional phenomenon in which a tripartite hierarchy of core, semi-periphery, and periphery was created in the first part of the 20th century and then slowly recreated after World War II (38) Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea have similar economic structures, and all three have similar political models and roles for the state:

3.

Discuss one set of factors that drove the retail revolution. Some options to choose from: o Reorganizing identities o Automobile & Suburbia o The rise of modern logistics

1. 2. 3. 4.

The rise of a new more affluent middle class, and the emergence of life style consumption The automobile and suburbia The shopping mall, the anchor stores, and in -store brands Consumer demand for differentiated product o Fashion o Household goods o Age graded consumption o Life style consumption and the material basis for self-realization 5. The development of modern logistics

4.

Without Asian manufacturers, would the retail revolution have occurred?

5.

The global role and influence of McDonalds. McDonalds in Asia Differences from society to society, but in most places McDonalds becomes a local restaurant that is integrated in peoples everyday lifes in one way or another. ampm, 7-Eleven (too much good stuff ) quintessentially American stores? The rise of ethnic restaurants McDonalds is a type of ethnic food outside of the U.S.

6.

Why does McDonalds focus on children as primary consumers? Kara Chan, Youth and Consumption: Based on a large survey of Hong Kong young people, she reached the following conclusions: 1. Hong Kong youths are under tremendous pressure to excel in their academic pursuits 2. Parental mediation of young peoples consumption is weak in Hong Kong. 3. Peer influence and comparison of possessions with friends are prevalent among Hong Kong youth 4. Comparison of material possessions with media celebrities is less prevalent among Hong Kong youth 5. Young people in Hong Kong are heavy media users and the importance of the Internet is soaring. 6. Marketers are constantly seeking the attention of young people through various channels 7. Young people in Hong Kong like advertising and consider advertising good 8. Young people in Hong Kong pay much attention to the details of advertisements 9. Perception of possessions is complex among young people 10. Young people in Hong Kong endorse materialistic values No matter how different the tastes and the local needs are, McDonalds has paid considerable attention to the children in every country. They built happy land for them, offering fantastic happy meals with novelty toys to them. Furthermore, McDonalds has just launched computers with games that were designed to inspire the childrens imagination at the same time shape their personal characteristics. There are three main reasons for McDonalds to focus on the children: 1. Children are one of the biggest consumers groups to McDonalds. And McDonalds has been regarded, as their favorite place to go .The brand culture happiness is known by children. 2. McDonalds believe that focusing on children can build the stable business, and will provide the best engine to encourage the whole family to come to McDonalds. For example, one happy meal for a child only cost $ 5 but McDonalds can produce more new products in addition to happy meal to offer the whole family. 3. By Building a brand loyalty with the children, McDonalds more likely to be successfully today and in the future. In my opinion, McDonalds is not just selling the happy meal to children; it is selling the American culture to the children the enjoyable individual life. o Actually this strategy with focused children segment is fully worked for their future development purpose. Whatever how the environment changes this strategy can always develop future generation customers loyalty. And the happy children can also bring in the whole happy families For achieving their objectives, the McDonalds strategy is to attract more new cust omers, encourage existing customers to visit McDonalds more often, build brand loyalty and, ultimately, create enduring profitable growth for the company. o

7.

Explain how these two diagrams illustrate (or do not illustrate) vertical integration?

Hyundai

8.

Explain the important of Beckers The Power of Inertia for understanding economic development in Asia.

Examples of essay questions

1. You are a consumer. Explain how you (meaning both you personally and you as an aggregation of all consumers) and your consumption practices influence the global economy? Give a detailed answer that draws on the lecture and readings.

This pattern of buying suggests that there are new sources of differentiation, rather than simple global cultural uniformity.

2. In Chuas book, Structure, Audience, and Soft Power in East Asian Pop Culture, popular culture products (television shows, music, movies) can be viewed as an export industry. Moreover, he also argues that some countries are better than others in promoting pop culture as soft power. Explain what he means by soft power, and explain why some countries have better success in this export industry than other countries. As part of your answer, you should use Howard Beckers article, as well as Chua, as the sources of some of your explanation.

3. What is the difference between supply-driven and demand-driven economies, and when and how did the shift occur in the United States? And what did that shift have to do with Asia?
Supply-driven Demand-driven Demand-driven economies are those in which consumer choices directly influence production decisions.

4. Using the lecture and readings, distinguish between global convergence theories (e.g., Ritzers theory of McDonaldization. Marxs theory of capitalism, and Meyers theory of global isomorphism) and alternative perspectives (e.g., localization). What theories seem to work best in understanding contemporary Asian societies?
We are looking at global convergence. What does this convergence mean? Three theories of global convergence Ritzers theory of McDonaldization Marxs theory of capitalism Meyers theory of global isomorphism All these theories imply that culture around the world is becoming uniform

5. Is McDonalds demand-creating, demand-responsive, or both? In other words, is McDonalds creating youth demand, are youth and their families driving demand, or is it a combination?

6. How do we explain the fundamental role Asia has played in supplying the U.S. with consumer goods? Choose and argue one of the four explanations discussed in class and provide supporting evidence and examples.

7. Now that the course is nearly over, reevaluate the Chinese model of development. In your answer you should draw on course material covered since the midterm.

Structure, Audience, and Soft Power in East Asian Pop Culture Chua Beng Huat
Ch. 7: Pop Culture as Soft Power Pop Culture desire to seek influence through culture is conceptualized as an exercise in cultural diplomacy US Case (pg 120)

I. Evidence of Popularity and Influence The effectiveness of pop culture as soft power there should be evidence of changes in attitude in the audience towards the exporting nation (121) o Japanese pop culture = first wave o Korean pop culture > II. The Industrys Promotion of Japanese and Korean Content and the Rhetoric of Soft Power 1st Japandoesnt use it Korea uses it Pushes Japan to use it and thus Korea to rival Japans use Doraemon Japanese government failure to mobilize soft power resources due to absence of supporting public policies (124) o Government did not get involved with the media industry in general, let alone pop culture which it regarded as mere entertainment Reluctance of Japanese produces to aggressively export their produces into the region many be due to lingering memories of the Japanese wartime atrocities in Asia, which acted as a check on Japans regional political ambitions

o The governments attitude was matched by the apparent disinterest Japanese pop cultures had in overseas markets, particularly during the heyday of the bubble economy when cultural producers appeared to be content with the high spending domestic markets Mixture of three of Leonards strategies of ignorance Non-interventionist stance of Japanese government before the 2000s o Promotion of Japanese pop culture, particularly manga and anime, globally became a personal mission of Taro Aso (126) His explicitly justification for him, a manga enthusiast, cultural diplomacy that fails to take advantage of pop culture is not really worthy of being called cultural diplomacy continues Korean government has taken an active role in the development of the media industry since the end of the 1980s (127) o 1987 1991 2008 o 1988 1994 1997

III. Obstacles Noted in Audience Studies: A Summary 1. Common explanation for popularity of Japanese and Korean dramas in East Asia cultural proximity, ostensibly because of their shared Confucian values, which is radically reduced to patriarchal family relations (129) o However family institutions are portrayed very differently in drams from different parts of East Asia 2. Korean and Japanese television dramas are dubbed and subtitled into Chinese languages and redistributed through Pop Cultural China (130) o Cultural particularities, i.e., foreign cultural elements, tend to case audiences to distance themselves from what is on screen 3. Identification of characters and narratives on screen are highly abstract understanding and identification with what is on screen on either/both the basis of being human in general and being Asian specifically (130) o It would appear that the attractiveness of what is on screen may not be Korean or Japanese but what is already the audiences own. Hence, they do not necessarily se themselves as being positively influence by the foreign dramas In summary (131) o There is no guarantee that the popularity of the pop culture will result in a positive disposition toward the exporting nation, the outcome which the expenditure of the pop culture as soft power aims to achieve

IV. Transnational Pop Cultural Meets Nationalism No one wants to be the target of others power, hard or soft. Indeed, penetration of pop culture into another country is almost always resented as cultural contamination, cultural imperialism or cultural hegemony. Politically, soft power can be counter-productive. Consequently, proponents of using pop culture as soft power are explicitly aware of the need to be circumspect with reference to the feeling of the target audience both as a population and as a nation (131) The difference in the size of the audience and non-audience populations locally is an important contextual obstacle to the efficacy of pop culture as soft power resource for the exporting country (131) Three instances in the recent history of East Asian Pop Culture illustrate this issue of politics against imported pop culture (132) 1. 132 2. 132 3. 133 o In all these three instances, the pop culture sphere rubs up against the larger public sphere of which it is a part V. Reality Check Beyond Pop Culture (134-135)

VI. Enter Mainland China

the soft power ambition of both Japan and Korea are clearly aimed at the regional Huaren audience population, the most important segment of which is in mainland China (135) Soft power has become a preoccupation in China, not only for the party state leaders but also for intellectuals and the Chinese media (135) A second element that the Chinese writers consider as a soft power cultural resource is Chinas own experience in the development of a market economy, i.e., Chinas rise as a development model for others to learn and emulate (135) in the same vein, China sees itself as the birthplace of an East Asian civilization and thus considers itself responsible for the proper historical accounting and interpretation of what is root or traditional East Asian culture (138)

VII. Conclusion (143) use for intro/general synopsis of essay Undoubtedly television and films have a consequential impact on their audiences. For one who does not have the opportunity to travel, knowledge of a foreign land is often wholly derived from its representations on big and small screens. This ability to influence undergirds the proposal that pop culture can be transformed into resources and instruments of soft power through which the exporting national can influence their target audiences/consumers However, substantively and analytically, how this influence can be achieved remains an empirical issue that is seriously under-examined In the context of a regional pop culture economy in East Asia, three countries Japan, Korea and Chinaare vying to increase their regional soft power through the export of pop culture 1. The audience is a fragmented figure, intermittently identifying with and distancing itself from what is on screen o The result is an absence of sustained influence, positive or negative; the exporting nations hope for positive influence on the audience in the target nation is not guaranteed Furthermore, the overwhelmingly much larger non-audience of foreign pop culture could be readily mobilized, firstly, against its importation and, secondly, to confront the audience of imported products, in the name of protecting the domestic, national culture, with the tacit or explicit suppor t of local culture produces and the state o Such possibly backlash require the exporting nation to tread softly with its soft power ambitions Finally, empirically, market considerations have greatly impacted the regional pop culture economy o While the media industry in each country will undoubtedly continue to produce pop culture for its domestic audience, which is usually its more significant market, the same media companies will also have to pursue transnational co-production and distribution opportunities to enlarge their revenue o Here China, with its promise of 1.3 billion consumers, is drawing in regional producers with different coproduction arrangements o The consequence is that the Chinese government, through its state-controlled media industry, appears to be gaining in determining the content of transnational productions in the region and with that, the on going accumulation of regional softer power resources, if not influence o At the regional level, one could argue that the historically deeper structure of Pop Culture China is reasserting its dominance, after two brief decades of being submerged by Japanese and Korea pop cultures, while groups of committed fans, operating in different modes on the Internet, continue to go under the radar of both the competing nation states and capitalist profits

2.

3.

The Power of Inertia Howard S. Becker

The connected packages of practices and relationships which make up an art world, such as the world of music making, creates a powerful inertia, since it is always easier to use the already present elements of the package. Innovation is possible and occurs whenever people are willing to go to the trouble of doing things the hard way (301) Stability of a conventional system inertia also call it, with some what of a political twist, hegemony

In that way, they are a model of what is possible, showing what you could do if you really wanted to and what the price would be. And all that shows how organizations stay stableby raising the price of innovationand how they changethrough the activity of people for whom that price is, for whatever reason, not prohibitive