Will China have its own Barack Obama?

There are two kinds of belonging to a country: one based on ethnic identity and the other on civic identity. In this thought-provoking talk, anthropologist Gordon Mathews explains the difference and poses an intriguing question: Will China have its own Barack Obama? Is China a country for the world, or only for the Chinese?

Gordon Mathews is a Professor and Chair in the Department of Anthropology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. His most recent books include The World in Guangzhou: Africans and Other Foreigners in South China's Global Marketplace (2017, co-authored with Lin Dan and Yang Yang) and Ghetto at the Center of the World: Chungking Mansions, Hong Kong (2011). Throughout his career, Mathews has written and edited books on a wide range of topics, including what makes life meaningful in Japan and the United States, the concept of a global cultural supermarket and the meanings of culture today, the Japanese generation gap, the idea of national belonging in Hong Kong and beyond, how different societies define happiness, and the phenomenon of low-end globalization around the world. His current research explores perceptions of life after death in the United States, Japan, and China.