Decoding the Asian Diaspora: Perspectives and Narratives

We live in a world where Asia's global role seems stronger than ever - shaping economies, politics, technological advancements, even art and pop culture. Meanwhile, the Asian diaspora has long been an integral part of societies outside Asia, like in Europe and the United States, with its history being rich of numerous migration and cultural exchange across the globe.

Still, Western perspectives choose to coexist with the Asian culture often by exoticizing it, or by resorting to tokenism[1] and fetishization. At the same time, Western countries often seem to struggle to fully recognize the diaspora as a permanent and evolving reality, and appear reluctant, to say the least, to embrace a boundless potential of inclusion.

SNF Dialogues Initiative opens this discussion, in collaboration with the Asia Society, on the history and influence of the Asian diaspora, exploring issues of representations and stereotypes in public life, aiming to reach a better understanding of our world today and the forces shaping its future.

Reference

[1] Tokenism: what a person or organization does that seems to support or help a group of people who are treated unfairly in society, such as giving a member of that group an important or public position, but which is not meant to make changes that would help that group of people in a lasting way.