EACS-2016. Book of Abstracts

Sociology & Anthropology 21st Biennial Conference of the European Association for Chinese Studies 184 and has been introduced in their works a multiplicity of intercultural situations performed by characters of different geographic and cultural origins. In spite of the number and importance of the Chinese population in Spain at present (193.690 Chinese foreign residents at mid 2015), its historical presence is relatively short. Nonetheless its population has been detected and as its visibility increases in the society, so also increases the number of Spanish literature works with Chinese leading roles. From a sociological approach focused on social representations, it means, a whole of ideas and socio- cultural values, this paper analyzes the main aspects of the Spanish social imaginary about the Chinese that are articulated in two ways in the Spanish literature works: the first uses recognized characters and circum- stances that are easily and directly identifiable in the novel plot because they represent the usual image of “our Chinese” that are “our neighbors” and with whom “we interact daily”, it means, they form part of the Spanish present diverse society (familiarity effect); and the second, uses a certain image of China, Chinese people and Chinese cultural aspects to stress the cultural distance with the readers, because this image is considered strange, not familiar (otherness effect). The use of either literary intercultural strategy shows the complexity of the present socio-cultural dynamics about the diversity in Spain. Schimmelpfennig Michael (Australian National University) The Question of Loyalty in the Context of the Practice of ‘Building Relations’ (guanxi 关系 ) Key words: contemporary Chinese society, human relations, history of ideas, zhong 忠 , guanxi xue 关系学 Legions of publications on the subject of the Chinese practice of 'Building Relations' (guanxi 关系 ) issued from the 1980s onwards document that opinions regarding the origin or nature of guanxi have been quite varied. Conceived in the beginning as an immoral means to secure hard to come by resources in China's socialist economy of scarcity, guanxi more recently attained a status of a particular and legitimate tool to establish and maintain business relations with Chinese entrepreneurs. Adherents to the latter position hold that the practice of guanxi actually serves to establish trust, and ultimately reliability, between two parties. Sociologically, loyalty is defined as reliability or adherence to another person or group in situations where trust in this other party is no longer justified. So the question arises if the practice of guanxi is indeed suc- cessful in establishing a degree of mutual trust, will this trust in cases of doubt or the presence of other, more trustworthy alternatives, culminate in loyal behavior? Apparently, the Chinese authors of recent manuals on the subject do think so. Publication of these hand- books for graduates and young professionals on guanxi, trust, and loyalty began in the late 1990s. Most manuals are step-by-step guidebooks that introduce their readers into the techniques of networking within the hierarchies of companies and Chinese society as a whole. The presentation is going to examine these manuals to understand how their authors conceive the con- nection between the practice of building relations and trust and loyalty. After a brief overview of the state of research on guanxi, the presentation will attempt to answer the following questions: 1. How do the manuals' authors conceive the relation between guanxi and trust? 2. When does loyalty enter the equation? And 3. what can be said about the authors' particular ideas of loyalty? Tao Yu (University of Central Lancashire) Local Cadres, Social Organisations and Grassroots Governance in Chinese Villages Key words: social capital, local cadres, civil society, governance, rural China The dramatic socioeconomic transitions in rural China have brought about tremendous challenges to local governance, especially on the grassroots level. On the face of the increasing scale and frequency of collective protests, many local cadres are struggling to maintain social stability in their jurisdictions. Yet, some cadres still appear to be more capable than others in keeping their villages away from violating con-