“Sense and Sensibility in Anthropology”: in dialogue with Ju-chen Chen on globalization, migrant workers and music

In this episode, we are speaking to Dr. Ju-chen Chen, senior lecturer of the Department of Anthropology at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Ju-chen received her Ph.D. from Rutgers University. Her Ph.D. dissertation addresses the remaking of Beijing under the impacts of the late socialist Chinese state and the expansion of global capitalism in the early 2000s. She is keen on learning about the “aspiration” of different people, from Filipino workers in Hong Kong, to independent music communities in Hong Kong and Taiwan. The importance of senses in fieldwork also intrigues her. Towards the end of the episode, Ju-chen shares her view on how anthropology provides a sense of comfort during difficult times.

(This episode is conducted in Putonghua.)

00’57 From psychology to anthropology, and the experience of studying in the U.S

08’43 The many Beijings in globalization

26’00 Filipino migrant workers in Hong Kong

47’00 On aspiration

52’00 Research on independent music communities

59’00 The meaningfulness of anthropology