Hakka Ethnic Group Identification and Cultural Production: An Anthropological Study of the World Hakka Conference

Abstract

The World Hakka Conference started in 1971 and has been held by rotation system across the world ever two or three years ever since. So far twenty conferences have been held. As the interest in Hakka culture increases, the World Hakka Conference has evolved from simply a grand reunion and association (reporting sessions among various villages) into the cultural (large-scale entertainment and performance, art and literature, cuisine), academic (International Conference on Hakka Studies), economic (business and trade talks), and political (United Front work) spheres. It is not only an important carrier for the Hakka to maintain bonds of friendship with other villages and enhance multinational and multiregional interaction, but also a platform and arena for pluralistic ethnic group identification and cultural production in the new era. In recent years, in particular, there has been fierce competition in the bidding to host the World Hakka Conference, which attracts thousands of attendees and involves elaborate planning and careful implementation. The trade talks at the conference are worth tens of billions of dollars. Some state leaders are present at the conferences and the host provincial and municipal governments always go all out to make them successful. The conference has experienced increasing and steady growth in scale, content, and standards. In the eyes of the Hakka both at home and abroad, the World Hakka Conference is not unlike the Olympic Games in terms of status and influence. From the perspective of anthropological theory on ethnic groups, nongovernment (folk) movements and group events like the World Hakka Conference represent the cultural consciousness and ethnic group identification of the Hakka people in their pursuit of survival and development in the context of globalization. The conference attributes its changes and development to strategic utilization by various forces and is a creation and reinvention of the traditional culture. It involves the processes of ethnic group identification and cultural production on several different levels.