Cultural education as containment of communism : the ambivalent position of American NGOs in Hong Kong in the 1950s
Document Type
Journal article
Source Publication
Journal of Cold War Studies
Publication Date
1-1-2010
Volume
12
Issue
2
First Page
3
Last Page
28
Publisher
M I T Press
Abstract
This article discusses the ambivalent role of U.S. non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in shaping Hong Kong's institutions of higher education in the 1950s. Cold War concerns about Communist expansion induced the NGOs to pursue ideological goals that were not part of their main mission, even as they continued policy directions that superseded and sometimes unintentionally counteracted Cold War thinking and strategies. Hong Kong, as a site important but marginal to both China and Britain, had strategic value in the Cold War and as such impelled many different forces to contest it. By examining how U.S. NGO educational work in Hong Kong both reinforced and destabilized Cold War ideology, one gains a clearer picture not only of Hong Kong's cultural significance in Cold War politics but also the ambiguity of Cold War intellectual paradigms of culture and education.
DOI
10.1162/jcws.2010.12.2.3
Print ISSN
15203972
E-ISSN
15313298
Publisher Statement
Copyright © 2010 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Access to external full text or publisher's version may require subscription.
Full-text Version
Publisher’s Version
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Chou, A. L. G. (2010). Cultural education as containment of communism: The ambivalent position of American NGOs in Hong Kong in the 1950s. Journal of Cold War Studies, 12(2), 3-28. doi: 10.1162/jcws.2010.12.2.3