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African Logistics Agents and Middlemen as Cultural Brokers in Guangzhou
[journal article]
Abstract "This article begins by asking how African traders learn to adjust to the foreign world of Guangzhou, China, and suggests that African logistics agents and middlemen serve as cultural brokers for these traders. After defining 'cultural broker' and discussing why these brokers are not usually Chinese... view more
"This article begins by asking how African traders learn to adjust to the foreign world of Guangzhou, China, and suggests that African logistics agents and middlemen serve as cultural brokers for these traders. After defining 'cultural broker' and discussing why these brokers are not usually Chinese, it explores this role as played by ten logistics agents/middlemen from Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. As logistics agents, these people help their customers in practically adjusting to Chinese life, and as middlemen they serve to grease the wheels of commerce between African customers and Chinese suppliers. This is despite their own ambivalent views of China as a place to live. They play an essential role in enabling harmonious relations between Africans and Chinese in Guangzhou, even though they see themselves not as cultural brokers but simply as businessmen." (author's abstract)... view less
Keywords
China; African; businessman; commerce; cultural factors; cultural difference; multicultural society; social adjustment; cultural integration; multiplier; migrant; migration; Far East
Classification
Migration, Sociology of Migration
Cultural Sociology, Sociology of Art, Sociology of Literature
Document language
English
Publication Year
2015
Page/Pages
p. 117-144
Journal
Journal of Current Chinese Affairs, 44 (2015) 4
Issue topic
Foreign Lives in a Globalising City: Africans in Guangzhou
ISSN
1868-4874
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed