Michel Chambon 陈立邦
I am a cultural anthropologist (Boston University, 2018) and a Catholic Theologian (Theologicum Paris, 2011) specialized in the study of Christianity in Asia. Most of my scholarship explores Christian networks in contemporary Chinese societies. As a Research Fellow at the Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore, I coordinate ISAC (the Initiative for the Study of Asian Catholics) and publish on issues related to Asia, Christianity, China, etc.
RESEARCHER | EDUCATOR | GARDENER |
Researching
Christianity in Asia
Since Sept. 2003, I have engaged with the sinophone world, researching Christianity in contemporary Chinese societies.
From 2003 to 2006, I worked for the Catholic diocese of Hong Kong as a pastoral worker and learnt Cantonese at Hong Kong University. In 2009-2011, I studied Mandarin in Taiwan and conducted research among Catholics and Presbyterians, exploring their views on ghosts, ancestors, and spirits. In 2015-2016, while I was doing my Ph.D. in Anthropology at Boston University, I conducted ethnographic fieldwork in Nanping, North Fujian, where I studied local Christian communities in relation to their broader society and religious environment.
My academic book (2020) “Making Christ Present in China – Actor Network Theory and the Anthropology of Christianity” examines the five Christian denominations of Nanping to question the ways social science theorizes the unity and diversity of Christianity.
Since then, I regularly visit China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong to observe on-going evolutions of Chinese Christian communities. I also study the materialization of Christianity within the Taiwanese domestic sphere.
Faire Connaître les Chrétiens en Chine
Après plus de 20 ans à fréquenter la Chine, à étudier et à publier des articles de recherche sur le Christianisme en Chine contemporaine, il me semblait important d’enfin produire un ouvrage grand public et dans ma langue maternelle.
Les Chrétiens dans la Chine de Xi Jinping sont un partage fraternel et informel sur la grande diversité des chrétiens en Chine aujourd’hui. Chaque chapitre débute dans un petit district pour ensuite élargir le champ et aborder ce grand pays avec des gens et des situations bien concrètes.
C’est en tant que fils du diocèse de clermont, enraciné dans une histoire particulière, que je vais à la rencontre d’autres chrétiens particuliers. Ces chrétiens ne sont pas plus exotiques ou étranges que ceux d’Auvergne. Mon ouvrage cherche à dé-politiser et dé-exoticiser ce qu’on dit sur les Chrétiens en Chine. Mon but est d’abord de méditer ensemble sur ce qui façonne le phénomène chrétien dans nos sociétés et nos cultures.