The allure of white bodies Race, capital, and nationhood in contemporary China

As China emerges as a global economic power and hosts a growing number of foreign migrants, media portrayals of white foreigners in China have become increasingly diverse. This dissertation employs ethnographic and cultural studies methods to explore the cultural meanings of white identities and the racialized social dynamics between Chinese individuals and white foreigners in Chinese cinema, social media, and fashion modeling.
Three research questions frame this dissertation:
1. How is whiteness perceived in relation to Chineseness? In particular, how have rising Chinese nationalism and the increased geopolitical tensions between China and major Western countries in recent years impacted the representation and production of whiteness?
2. To what extent does white embodiment afford foreign migrants material and symbolic advantages and disadvantages? How does it enrich our understanding of the notion of white privilege?
3. How does racial whiteness intersect with other social categories, such as gender, class, and nationality?
This dissertation argues that white privilege and hegemony continue to recur while constantly facing adaptation, mutation, and contestation. Comprehending white formation in contemporary China necessitates a substantial consideration of the cultural construction of Chineseness as well as the changing nationalist and capitalist ideologies and practices within China’s reform era since the 1980s.