• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.15-39
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• 2014

This research conducted a before/after naturalistic field experiment, with the early Arab Spring as the treatment. Compared to before the early Arab Spring, after the observation period the associations became stronger among the Web terms: 'Jihad, Sharia, innovation, democracy and civil society.' The Western concept of civil society transformed into a central Islamist ideological component. At another level, the inter-nation network based on Jihad-weighted Web hyperlinks between pairs of 46 Muslim Majority (MM) nations found Iran in one of the top two positions of flow betweenness centrality, a measure of network power, both before and after early Arab Spring. In contrast, Somalia, UAE, Egypt, Libya, and Sudan increased most in network flow betweenness centrality. The MM 'Jihad'-centric word co-occurrence network more than tripled in size, and the semantic structure more became entropic. This media "cloud" perhaps billowed as Islamist groups changed their material-level relationships and the corresponding media representations of Jihad among them changed after early Arab Spring. Future research could investigate various rival explanations for this naturalistic field experiment's findings.

• SUVANNABHUMI
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.205-227
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• 2023

This study seeks to examine how the West, particularly United States (US), influences the narratives about terrorism, radicalism, and combating violent extremism (CVE) in Muslim majority nations such as Malaysia. We contend that some local institutions and researchers in Malaysia may have assumed the Faustian bargain by agreeing with the Western narrative that Islam's teachings promote violence and extremism in order to meet the demands of survival, whether it be funding for everyday operations or meeting the demands of universities or research institutions to sustain themselves and meet their performance indicators. We conducted a systematic literature review (SLR) from 2001 to 2021 and used Foucauldian Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to understand the role of the US in purposefully supporting workshops and research activities of particular institutions with the intent to influence national discourse on securitization and prospective policy implications. More importantly, we wish to alert Malaysian policymakers to pay particular attention and scrutinize ongoing programs such as the "Building Community Resilience" as these may inadvertently foster Islamophobia.

• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.125-147
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• 2020

On the World Refugee Day in 2017, Yao Chen, a Chinese actress, philanthropist, and social media influencer, posted messages in her Weibo in support of the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR). Yet, social media users quickly interpreted this supportive message of the refugee program as encouraging people to "accept and receive refugees" (jieshou nanmin) into China. Particularly, the category of Middle Eastern refugees elicited most criticism in China's cyberspace. As the inclusion of refugees is an integral part of immigrant multiculturalism, this article examines the limits of multicultural imagination of refugees―particularly those from the Middle Eastern and North Africa―in contemporary China. I argue that the limits of multicultural imagination in contemporary China is profoundly shaped by an intricate interweaving of domestic policies and global imaginaries toward refugees. By deploying a mixed methodology, such limits are examined from legal-institutional, ideological, and sociocultural perspectives. More specifically, three interrelated aspects will be highlighted in the article: (1) the global circulation of right-wing populism imaginaries, and their entanglements with the anti-Muslim sentiments in contemporary China; (2) the current insufficiency of the legal-institutional framework regarding refugees and asylum-seekers, which needs to be contextualized in China's modern history of dealing with refugee issues; (3) population politics, the rise of Han-centric nationalism, and their constraining impact on the interpretation of historical events related to cultural diversity. In conclusion, this article also offers potential implications for further examining the different yet potentially intersected genealogies of multicultural imaginaries beyond the Middle Eastern and North African refugees in Asia.

• Korean Security Journal
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• no.12
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• pp.149-175
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• 2006

The purpose of this study is to understand and analyze the character of Islamic fundamentalism and Middle-Ease Terrorism. The aim of Islamic fundamentalism is reconstruction of Ummah(Muslim Unity), thee early society of Muhammad's age. Islamic movement insist to restore the spirit of Islam and purify the society of Islam from the United State and Western world. Now, Islamic fundamentalism movement as a new ideology, appeals to muslim in the world. The concept of modern national state from the Western countries do not accord with the traditional Islamic principles of reign and a spirit of nationalism. On the other hand, Islamic movement have no legitimacy in the system of modern state which govern the Arab world, regardless of the form of government. For this reasons, Islamic fundamentalist have an insecure position and their political activities. It is yet far from their purpose, to reconstruct the muslim unity, to realize the Islamic political principle close to their practical methods. Yet Islamic fundamental movement have not overcome the system of secular state. The Middle East terrorism supported by government might be eradicated by America's anti-terrorism policy. However, it will be serious and spread all over the world that the terrorist attack against the U. S. and western countries is acted by militant warriors of Islamic fundamentalism, uniting Arab and Islamic people's emotions against America and western countries. There are some reasons that we need to focus on the Arab and Islamic fundamentalism. We need to get out of misunderstanding and discrimination about Islamic religion and culture from America's and Western' standard Which are only their new world order. The discrimination of America and western nations against muslim could make other ideologies, opposite to the world peace. There are a lot of foreign workers from Islam countries in Korea. We need to give consideration and attention to them for the our globalization and world peace. It is time to consider what to do for the nation's profit(economical, political, strategic)with right understanding. We are not safe and free from the terrorism yet.

• The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.67-78
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• 2016

The Indonesian population is estimated at 250 million and ranked as the world's fourth-largest. It is also one of the world's largest Muslim nations. Seventy percent of the population of Indonesia is young consumers in their 20s and 30s. In additions, Indonesian consumers have recently developed a great interest in fashion in general and Korean fashion in particular. This paper addresses issues related to young Indonesian consumers' clothing behavior in terms of clothing image, clothing style, body image, clothing and attitudes toward Korean fashion brands. The survey method was used as a primary research instrument. All measurements were adapted from the existing scales from previous studies. A total of 172 questionnaires were used for the final statistical analysis. Empirical results showed that Indonesian consumers' preferences regarding clothing image were new, casual, humorous, futuristic, soft, interesting and active. In terms of style, Indonesian consumers scored high in their preferences of casual and classic styles. With regard to body image, Indonesian consumers have significant concern for their appearance and body, but at the same time they are more satisfied with their body shape. More than half of the respondents had experience in purchasing Korean fashion products. Indonesian consumers recognized the clothing image of Korean fashion brands as new, futuristic, and hi-tech. Furthermore, they perceive the clothing style of Korean fashion brands as casual, feminine, and sexy. Korean fashion brand purchase intension was significantly influenced by recognition and preference of Korean fashion brand.