New Books in East Asian Studies Jenny Banh, "Fantasies of Hong Kong Disneyland: Attempted Indigenizations of Space, Labor, and Consumption" (Rutgers UP, 2025)
Jan 25, 2026
Jenny Banh, scholar of Asian American studies and anthropology and professor at Cal State Fresno, explores how Disney tried to localize Hong Kong Disneyland. She traces 15 years of fieldwork on space, labor, and consumption. Short takes cover feng shui and food controversies, queuing and social tensions, comparisons with Ocean Park, and ideas for more sustainable local adaptation.
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Research Pivot For Safety And Interest
- Jenny Banh recounts pivoting her original plan to study mainland Chinese sweatshops and instead studying Hong Kong Disneyland to avoid political risk and preserve access to China.
- She describes growing up in a Chinese restaurant family which shaped her lifelong focus on labor, space, and consumption.
Value Of Deep, Iterative Fieldwork
- Jenny describes 15 years of fieldwork, almost two continuous years in Hong Kong, plus repeated returns and substantial peer-review-driven revisits.
- This long-term immersion allowed her to verify findings and capture Disney's evolving practices and Hong Kong's political shifts.
Unequal Contract Fueling Local Resentment
- Hong Kong Disneyland's creation occurred amid 1990s deindustrialization and elite decision-making, producing an unequal public-private contract favoring Disney.
- The deal resembled a modern
