Tackling questions of transcultural cooperation and the related determinants and processes in Hong Kong through field study and observation.

2017 marked the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong’s sovereignty handover from Great Britain to the People’s Republic of China. It was a good time for us to review the role of Hong Kong under ‘One Country, Two systems’ and the transculturality among locals, migrants, foreigners, businesses and politics since the handover. ‘Transculturalism represents the idea that there are perceptions and ideas of moral values and principles, such as humanitarianism, justice or fairness, that are common to all cultures’ (Wieland, 2015). The goal of this research project was to focus on the commonalities between the diverse cultures in Hong Kong, and on the corresponding learning processes and strategies for using and developing these commonalities through transcultural cooperation.

The theory of hybridity emphasises neither cultural assimilation nor cultural diversity; it stresses an advent, a happening, an emergence of cultural form(s). Cultural identities and environments are produced by transnational processes and cultural fusions. Cultural hybridization could cause essentializing, alternating, converting and hybridizing. The case of Hong Kong offered an opportunity to analyse transculturality and cultural hybridity. Hong Kong is a migrant city. It is where East meets West, in which the culture of Hong Kong is deemed to be a mixture of both.

This research project aimed at tackling questions of transcultural cooperation and the related determinants and processes in Hong Kong through field study and observation. The team assembled seven students, the perspectives of six countries, five disciplines, and four study programs offered at Zeppelin University and aimed to contact international migrants and local citizens for qualitative interviews. For this purpose, each of the young researchers focussed on a specific area, namely migration, arts, communication, policy, behavioural ethics or business & entrepreneurship, and therefore added a particular contribution to the overall research question.

From 7 to 14 January 2018 the group went on a field trip to Hong Kong, where they had the opportunity to learn first hand about their fields of interest via field study and observation, meetings with local students and experts as well as taking part in guest lectures and workshops that were organised in cooperation with local partners.

Our thanks go to all our sponsors and supporters, particularly to Senator h.c. Udo J. Vetter. 

Supervisor
Dr Julika Baumann Montecinos,
Head of “Transcultural Management Studies” at LEIZ and Project Manager of the Transcultural Caravan

Project Manager
Dr Julika Baumann Montecinos,
Head of “Transcultural Management Studies” at LEIZ and Project Manager of the Transcultural Caravan

Partner
University of Technology Sydney, The University of Sheffield, Institute of Future Cities, The Chinese University of Hong Kong & Centre d ètudes français sur la Chine contemporaine