So, in my class, Asia and the World, the question arose (OK, I admit it: the idea came to my mind and I worked into my lecture): is the "West" becoming more "Asian"?

     A little background: the class focuses on the history and politics of China, Japan and India and asks whether there are, or ever have been, sufficient similarities among them to justify their inclusion in a common category of "Asia."  This assumes that "Asia" should have – and historically, in an Orientalist manner it did have – more politico-cultural meaning than mere geographic propinquity (and "Asia Minor" is not terribly propinquitous to "East Asia"…).  In any event, when we discuss Asia in this way it is inevitable that, when engaging with questions of modernization, we ask to what degree have Asian countries become Westernized.

    Now, that is all well and good and fairly standard fare, I guess.  But, when we look at the past decade or so (we could push the analysis back in time, of course, but I think the contemporary moment gives us good grist for this mill) we can reverse the question and ask : to what degree are "Western" countries becoming Asianized (the latter term seems rather awkward: a sign or our avoidance of the question…)?

    I am not a good one to answer this question since, through my efforts to make ancient Chinese thought available to modern American life, I have gone so far as to suggest that I have, in part, become Chinese. 

     I imagine we can all think of small ways in which we have become more "Asian" over time (I put the word in scare quotes because I am skeptical of its utility due to its over-large frame of reference, but for purposes of discussion…).  In the swirl of global capitalism, more and more elements of Asian culture are commodified and delivered to our doors.  My daughter, the other day, was discussing her sushi preferences and I thought to myself: "how can she have sushi preferences at 12?  I did not taste sushi until I was 26 and my mother never encountered or tried sushi."   

    But what about bigger, societal or political ways?  Is American society, as it interacts more deeply and rapidly with Asian countries, taking on some of the values and practices of those places?  Can we say America is becoming more Asian?  I am open to a an affirmative response but am curious to the kinds of evidence we might find.  And that is where this story comes in, from yesterday’s New York Times:

Cresskill, N.J.

WHEN Cresskill School District officials proposed a $31.1 million
renovation of their three public schools in 2004, they worried that
residents in this affluent borough of 7,700 in Bergen County would not
go along. The last school project was rejected twice before narrowly
passing in 1998. And that was for only $3.9 million.

While the
Cresskill schools clearly needed fixing up — boiler repairs at the high
school alone were costing $25,000 a year — many parents told school
officials that it was simply too much to spend, said Charles V. Khoury,
the superintendent, who met with nearly a dozen parent and community
groups.

So Mr. Khoury was all the more surprised after making his
pitch to the Korean Parents Association, known as the K.P.A., which
co-exists alongside the more traditional parent organizations at the
Cresskill schools. The association, which was founded in 1982 for
Korean families who spoke little English, now represents more than 100
families.

“They said, ‘Why don’t you ask for $40 million?’ ” Dr.
Khoury recalled, with a grin of disbelief. “It was a wonderful feeling
because I realized I didn’t have to sell them on it. They recognized
the value of education and the value of the schools.”

The
Korean parents quickly went to work, lobbying people at churches and
cultural events to support the renovations, which included building an
athletic complex and updating seven science labs at the high school. On
the day of the referendum, in January 2005, a half-dozen Korean parents
gathered at the high school to place last-minute calls to Korean
voters. And by the end of the night, the most expensive school project
in Cresskill’s history was approved by two-thirds of the voters.

 This story is close to my heart because, in the not too distant past, I was very active in the local politics of school funding.  I led several efforts to increase local property taxes for the schools and, as a part of those efforts, ran up against the hard rock of frugal and skeptical New England culture: why spend more on the schools now?  We got along with less thirty years ago, so why pay more today?  We won three votes but lost the last one a couple of years ago (to devastating fiscal effect on the high school).  I would have absolutely loved to have a group of hard-working Korean parents saying "why not $40 million"?

     But I digress.  Here’s something to watch as an indicator of the growing effect of Asian culture on American society: when will the Lunar New Year be made a public holiday?  It has not yet happened here in rural Northwestern Massachusetts but, I bet, by the time my grandchildren are in elementary school it will be.   And we all will be saying: Gonghe Facai!