Hall, Stuart. “The West and the Rest: Discourse and Power.” (1992).
The West and the Rest is an excerpt by Stuart Hall. The main focus of the passage is in talking
about the idea of “the west”. The passage discussed how society characterizes “western” nations
as well as how that has shifted over time and how the rules are not always consistent. The article
also talks about the overarching terms “west” and “the rest” and how they simplify the concepts
as well as make them even more at odds with each other. It goes on to compare this to when
Europeans were debating whether native Americans were “true men” in an effort to justify
their treatment and what defined a true man. They were compared to seeing what the beginnings
of humanity would have looked like. While looking at these other “rest” cultures as inferior often
subcultures within western culture were looked down upon as well such as Judaism. The article
also discusses the process of imperialism and where countries looked to expand and develop
their empires and what they hoped to gain there. I want to use this reading to talk about how due
to its history and 1 country 2 system status it teeters on the edge of the west even while China
attempts to pull it back in.
Bloomberg, David Tweed |. “Analysis | China's New Silk Road.” The Washington Post, WP
Company, 16 Apr. 2019, www.washingtonpost.com/business/chinas-new-silkroad/2019/04/16/92bbb61e-6000-11e9-bf24-db4b9fb62aa2_story.html?noredirect=on.
China’s New Silk Road is an article from the Washington Post by David Tweed that talks about
China’s belt and road intuitive that attempts to reclaim the former glory of the silk road. China
claims this is a way to help spark development and economic integration with other countries
while critics claim that this is another way for China to extend its sphere of influence. The
project involves China supporting the creation of all types of infrastructure in the nations
surrounding them. Lots of countries have been hesitant to work with China including multiple
nations cancelling deals before construction began. This effort is an effort to help reclaim the
glory days of the “silk road” that stretched from east Europe through Asia and was a major
roadway for lots of key goods such as paper and spices. Overall countries remain skeptical while
China maintains the lack of political motivations behind its moves. I want to use this reading to
talk about China’s sphere of influence and how strong of a player it is in that region.
Prashad, Vijay. The Darker Nations: a People's History of the Third World. New Press, 2008.
The excerpt talks about the Bandung conference in which twenty-nine newly independent Asian
and African nations came together to form a sort of coalition against imperialism. It discusses the
reluctant of some of the nations to spilt from their mother countries fearing that they were not
ready to make it on their own. It also discusses the attitudes at the meeting where even though
the countries had little in common from economies to religion, they were all united in their antiimperialism stance. However the article further goes on to discuss the differing view points of
some of the leaders and the precarious situation that China found itself in in the 1950s. The
central point of the reading is to highlight the differening spheres of influence present at the
Bandung conference and how that affected it. I want to use this reading to talk about China’s
sphere of influence as well as Hong Kong’s atypical rise as a semi-independent state.