Synopsis "The Chinese of Macau a Decade after the Handover"
THE CHINESE OF MACAU A DECADE AFTER THE HANDOVER is an important contribution to the study of identity, a fundamental topic in the twenty-first as in the latter part of the twentieth century. Identity in Macau is studied not only from a local Chinese perspective but also from a Macanese viewpoint. Society, culture and religion among the Chinese of Macau - and in particular the roles played by various Macau social, cultural and religious associations - are each studied in the context of economic circumstances. Based on two years of laborious fieldwork, initially assisted by Macau University students and others, The Chinese of Macau benefits from and re-actualizes Jean Berlie's previous research, published by Oxford University Press, Oxford/New York, as Macau 2000. Coinciding with Macau's change in status to become a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, and providing a snapshot of Macau Society at this significant point in Macau's history, Macau 2000, was received with great interest. The joint study of society and economy is a key point of both these complementary studies. Indeed, in Berlie's view, the current world economic crisis will be solved only when economists understand the interplay between these factors. Geoffrey C. Gunn, Professor of International Relations at Nagasaki University, has contributed a foreword and Tong Io Cheng, Professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Macau and Deputy of the Legislative Assembly of Macau, has contributed a chapter.
