This project involves the dissertation research of an anthropology student from the University of California-Santa Cruz. The project will study the changes in cultural identity of people in Macau, a Portuguese colony on the south coast of China, in light of the imminent reversion of the colony to China on 12/20/99. In light of the approaching conversion into a Chinese city the diverse populations have been defining their cultural identity as a unique blend of Portuguese and Chinese cultures. The specific questions the project will study are how changing forms of transnational mobility and identity give new meanings to old colonial social categories, and how, when, and for whom culture itself has become a meaningful category. The student will interview four groups in Macau: people building the Macau Museum of History (which will define Macau's unique heritage); students, teachers and administrators from two middle schools (engaged in transmitting the local culture across generations as well as dealing with the history of colonialism); members of neighborhood associations and native-place organizations (concerned about defining and maintaining local traditions); and residents of Macau who are returning to their hometowns in China. The student will collect life histories, conduct participant observation, and engage in formal interviews on the subject of changing identity. In addition the student will travel to Beijing to interview members of the Hong Kong and Macau affairs office about policy issues and to conduct archival research on the history of Chinese-Macau-Portugal relations. This research is important because it will advance our understanding of a global process of transnational and local political cultural identity formation through this unique case of political change. Cultural identities are involved in many cases of national and international crises (e.g., the former Yugoslavia or central Africa), where ideas of race, nation, Diaspora, city, colony and civilization are hotly contested and not mutually exclusive. This case study will provide valuable comparative information to help understand these contemporary processes.
