Griffith Review, Great Reads. Do it

My recommendation for this week is below, but Griffith Review Great Reads is very much worth subscribing to. Four pieces each week from across the web (and it’s free!).

The rise of the thought leader, New Republic Taking up Daniel W Drezner’s The Ideas Industry, which examines the rise of thought leaders, David Sessions makes political what Drezner was content to describe. Citing the growing influence of think-tanks and big philanthropic dollars, Sessions reveals a world in which ‘the super-rich actively seek to sabotage institutions [such as universities] that have formed the backbone of consensus and public trust for a large part of the twentieth century’. As depressing as this is, he finds hope in a generation of young writers and academics who argue for a richer and more complex society that prioritises human flourishing over private profit.

Mobilities of Knowledge on open access

Way back in the far-away-world of 2010 I was invited to attend the tenth of a series of symposia on Knowledge and Space sponsored by the Klaus Tschira Stiftung in the Studio Villa Bosch, Heidelberg.

It was one of the most stimulating academic events I’ve yet attended. Although I had by then already begun to read outside the discipline of History, I had been doing so in a somewhat haphazard and unguided manner. It was the 2010 symposium in Heidelberg that really opened up my eyes to the conversations about knowledge, space, mobility and technology taking place in Science Studies and Geography. At it I met several scholars whose work has deeply influenced my own and encountered new horizons for my research.

Now some of the papers from this event have been published as Mobilities of Knowledge (volume 10 in the Klaus Tschira Knowledge and Space Book Series). Together they examine how the geographical mobility of people and (im)material things has impacted epistemic systems of knowledge in different historical and geographical contexts. Thanks to Springer and the Klaus Tschira Stiftung the volume is available online and as open access. (Other volumes from the series are available here)

My piece considers the changing appointment practices of universities in late nineteenth and early twentieth century Britain and its empire. It points to the importance of private knowledge and highlights the cultures of trust that shaped an academic geography that was both expansive and exclusionary.

But it should be the last thing you read. Check out this fantastic list of contributors!

Daisy Kwok, Shanghai Princess #podcast

Daisy in Shanghai, late 1920s (Chen Danyan, Shanghai Princess: her survival with pride and dignity, Better Link Press, New York, 2010)

Over the last couple of months I’ve been making a radio documentary for ABC Radio National’s Earshot series. It’s about Daisy Kwok – an amazing woman who was born in Sydney at the end of the 19th century to wealthy Chinese merchant parents. Moving to Shanghai with her family, Daisy became the toast of interwar cosmopolitan Shanghai only to suffer terribly during China’s cultural revolution.

Yet that’s by no means the end of Daisy’s story. Her life is remarkable on its own, but it also sheds light on the history of Australian-Chinese relations, and on the fabulous history of Shanghai itself. As the little blurb on the RN wesbite puts it, this is a story of riches to rags to redemption, set during one of the 20th century’s most turbulent eras.

Making the programme has been a great experience and many thanks to David Rutledge at the ABC for showing me the production ropes.  Here too a big a shout-out must go to the brilliant Sophie Loy-Wilson, whose own encounter with Daisy Kwok is a must read and who has been a fantastic co-producer.  I clearly remember the wide-eyed revelation that came upon us both in the studio one afternoon, when we realised exactly what we were doing: “no footnotes!” we whispered to each other, in wonder.

Shanghai Princess aired on ABC RN’s Earshot programme on Wednesday 21 September 2016 and is available now for download or podcast.

Further Reading

• Sophie Loy-Wilson, ‘Search for Daisy Kwok uncovers Shanghai’s lost history of Chinese-Australians’, ABC News, 21 September, 2016.
• Chinese Heritage Association of Australia
• Chinese Australian Historical Society
• Kate Bagnall: The Tiger’s Mouth (a popular blog on Chinese Australian history

Photographs

with acknowledgements to Bobby Fu, Paul and Maunie Kwok and Kate Bagnall

Daisy as she appears in Australian immigration files in 1917. Source: National Archives of Australia, SP244/2, N1950/2/3885.

Kwok Family Home 1912-1917 17 Croydon St Petersham (previously 2 Croydon St) Source: google maps, 2014

Daisy in Shanghai in the late 1920s. Source: Source: Chen Danyan, Shanghai Princess: her Survival with Pride and Dignity (New York: Better Link Press, 2010)

Kwok Family, Shanghai c1925. Daisy Kwok is on the far left. Source: Chen Danyan, Shanghai Princess: her Survival with Pride and Dignity (New York: Better Link Press, 2010)

Daisy Kwok in Shanghai c1930 Source: Chen Danyan, Shanghai Princess: her Survival with Pride and Dignity (New York: Better Link Press, 2010)

The Kwok Family in Shanghai 1931. Clockwise from left is Edith Kwok, Elsie Kwok, Daisy Kwok, Pearlie Kwok and Darling Kwok. Source: Private Collection of Bobby Fu

Daisy and her husband, YH Woo, at their engagement party in 1931 Source: Chen Danyan, Shanghai Princess: her Survival with Pride and Dignity (New York: Better Link Press, 2010)

Daisy Kwok in Shanghai, 1964 Chen Danyan, Shanghai Princess: her Survival with Pride and Dignity (New York: Better Link Press, 2010)

Daisy Kwok (seated at back), Pearlie and Bobby Fu (Pearlie’s grandson) in Shanghai, summer of 1967 Source: Private collection of Bobby Fu

Daisy Kwok teaching English in Shanghai 1982 Chen Danyan, Shanghai Princess: her Survival with Pride and Dignity (New York: Better Link Press, 2010)

The Kwok family home in Shanghai in 2015. Source: Sophie Loy-Wilson, 2015