Understanding The South China Sea: An Explorative Cultural Analysis

The South China Sea has attracted considerable attention among politicians, journalists and scholars since it has become a contested maritime space. Most works concentrate on conflicts and negotiations to resolve the ensuing issues. In this paper, a cultural theory will be applied to stress the i...

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Main Author: Evers, Hans
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM Press) 2014
Subjects:
Online Access:http://eprints.usm.my/40823/1/Art4.pdf
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author Evers, Hans
author_facet Evers, Hans
author_sort Evers, Hans
collection USM
description The South China Sea has attracted considerable attention among politicians, journalists and scholars since it has become a contested maritime space. Most works concentrate on conflicts and negotiations to resolve the ensuing issues. In this paper, a cultural theory will be applied to stress the importance of conceptions of space found in different cultures. The South China Sea is defined as "Mediterranean." By comparing it to other maritime spaces, like the Baltic and the Mediterranean Sea, lessons will be drawn from the "longue durée" of history, as analysed by French historian Fernand Braudel and from concepts of the cultural theory of Oswald Spengler. The paper will look at the South China Sea from two perspectives. The political perspective will discuss various events that have happened due to political tensions because of territorial demarcations, fishing rights and access to natural resources. Comparing three "Mediterranean seas," I shall argue that Mediterranean seas share certain properties that give rise to tensions and even armed conflict, but also solutions to its problems. The second perspective uses macro-sociology and cultural anthropology to classify and understand actions of the general population as well as political leaders when they ascertain property rights to Mediterranean seas.
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spelling usm.eprints-408232018-06-27T02:51:13Z http://eprints.usm.my/40823/ Understanding The South China Sea: An Explorative Cultural Analysis Evers, Hans P1-1091 Philology. Linguistics(General) The South China Sea has attracted considerable attention among politicians, journalists and scholars since it has become a contested maritime space. Most works concentrate on conflicts and negotiations to resolve the ensuing issues. In this paper, a cultural theory will be applied to stress the importance of conceptions of space found in different cultures. The South China Sea is defined as "Mediterranean." By comparing it to other maritime spaces, like the Baltic and the Mediterranean Sea, lessons will be drawn from the "longue durée" of history, as analysed by French historian Fernand Braudel and from concepts of the cultural theory of Oswald Spengler. The paper will look at the South China Sea from two perspectives. The political perspective will discuss various events that have happened due to political tensions because of territorial demarcations, fishing rights and access to natural resources. Comparing three "Mediterranean seas," I shall argue that Mediterranean seas share certain properties that give rise to tensions and even armed conflict, but also solutions to its problems. The second perspective uses macro-sociology and cultural anthropology to classify and understand actions of the general population as well as political leaders when they ascertain property rights to Mediterranean seas. Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM Press) 2014-01 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://eprints.usm.my/40823/1/Art4.pdf Evers, Hans (2014) Understanding The South China Sea: An Explorative Cultural Analysis. International Journal of Asia Pacific Studies (IJAPS), 10 (1). pp. 80-95. ISSN ISSN: 1823-6243 http://ijaps.usm.my/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Art4.pdf
spellingShingle P1-1091 Philology. Linguistics(General)
Evers, Hans
Understanding The South China Sea: An Explorative Cultural Analysis
title Understanding The South China Sea: An Explorative Cultural Analysis
title_full Understanding The South China Sea: An Explorative Cultural Analysis
title_fullStr Understanding The South China Sea: An Explorative Cultural Analysis
title_full_unstemmed Understanding The South China Sea: An Explorative Cultural Analysis
title_short Understanding The South China Sea: An Explorative Cultural Analysis
title_sort understanding the south china sea an explorative cultural analysis
topic P1-1091 Philology. Linguistics(General)
url http://eprints.usm.my/40823/1/Art4.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT evershans understandingthesouthchinaseaanexplorativeculturalanalysis