Critical Arts

Under/Representation: A Critical Dialogue on The Politics of Identities and Difference Across Central Asia, North Asia, and Himalayan Region

Aiming for more nuanced, de-Orientalized, lived, fluid, grounded, and global understanding of Asian-ness, we invite critical scholars to submit papers for a special issue of Critical Arts dedicated to exploring the necessity of dialogue, the potential of solidarity, and the diverse socio-cultural-political representations of Asia, with a particular emphasis on underrepresented regions such as Central Asia, North Asia, and Himalayan Region.

Scope and Focus

Asia is a tapestry of histories, cultures, and political experiences. Always in flux, Asia is also a geopolitical construct. However, discursive and epistemological boundaries often obscure the rich diversity of Asian identities. This special issue aims to dissect the impact of historical processes, such as imperial and capitalist expansion, on Asian identities and to critically examine how regional distinctions are shaped, marginalized, or assimilated into broader narratives. Building on the intellectual dialogues in Critical Arts and elsewhere, and given the almost always already intricate political-economic-cultural ties between Africa and Asia (e.g., Tomaselli & Xiao, 2023), we would like to open up a space for further and deeper Africa-Asia dialogues, through a critical and reflexive dive into the different meanings, feelings, experiences, and representations circulated in and across the multiple currents which might be identified as Asia and/or Asian-ness.  The goal of this collaborative special issue is to unpack the nuanced layers of (mis)understanding and (mis/under)representation within ourselves, and in particular the oftentimes under-represented dimensions of Asia/Asian-ness. It is our hope that a less problematic and more nuanced representation of Asian-ness would contribute to inter-continental knowledge production and dialogues with Asian, African, and indeed global audiences.

As co-editors, we are also reflecting on the im/possibility of representing the always infinite, unfinished, and fluid meanings of Asia-ness, as many have pointed out Asia is indeed a political-cultural construct, more so than a fixed geographical space. As a collaborative editorial team, we hold different relations to different communities, while insisting on the necessity of dialogues and the vibrancy of convergence. As migrants from Asia with various specific roots in Asia, we welcome, respect, and recognize the vitality of local sources of knowledge, lived experiences, unconventional representation of knowledge and knowledge production. As cultural beings carrying our own names that signify different contexts of Asian-ness, we particularly emphasize on the indigenous naming of land, places, histories, people, communities, cultures, social systems, values, and worldviews.

We are particularly interested in contributions that explore the following themes:

• Imperial and Capitalist Legacies: How have the histories of imperialism, colonialism, and capitalist expansion shaped Asian identities across different regions? What continuities and ruptures can be traced in cultural and political self-understandings? How might decolonization look/sound like in cultural/material/epistemological/ontological dimensions?
• Discursive and Epistemological Separations: How have various regions of Asia been conceptually separated and absorbed into fields such as "post-Soviet," "Slavic," or "Eurasian" studies? For example, how do Central and North Asia's identities get both obscured and fetishized within these contexts? How do continental Asian-ness and diasporic Asian-ness relate to each other?
• Solidarity Building: How can scholarship contribute to solidarity building across Asian communities and beyond? What are the points of commonality and difference that can form the basis of mutual understanding and cooperation among diverse Asian societies?
• Representation and Identity Formation: How are Asian identities represented in cultural production, literature, media, and academic discourse? What role do these representations play in forming individual and collective identities within and beyond Asia?
• Decolonizing Methodologies: How can we critically reconsider the Eurocentric paradigms embedded in the disciplinary traditions and methods of Western academia concerning Asian history, culture, and politics? How can we reframe “Asia” as a method (e.g., Chen, 2010) rather than merely a subject of study within the diverse intellectual networks of Asian Studies and related disciplines in the West? In what ways can indigenous perspectives – rooted in native land, community practices, and language-based approaches – both support and challenge scholars of Asia, whether they are from within the region or working in a global context?
• Spirituality and Religion: How do religious beliefs, practices, and spiritual worldviews shape individual and collective identities across Asia? How do lived religious experiences and lived spiritual worldviews based on practices differ from 'textbook' descriptions and perceptions? What are the possibilities of inter-religious dialogues? We are particularly interested in exploring the lived religious experiences of Buddhism within and beyond Tibet, the Himalayan and North Asian regions, as well as Islam in Central Asia and the diverse practices of other religious communities from these regions. This theme invites reflections on how indigenous Asian communities experience their religious identities, often navigating tensions between internal self-understanding and external perceptions.