Publications

BOOKS/MONOGRAPHS AUTHORED

• Ho, Swee-Lin. 2023*. Asianizing Western Aesthetics: Asia’s Desires for Cultural Supremacy in the Global Classical
  Music Industry. Oxford and New York: BERGHAHN. * Work-in-Progress *

• 

  Ho, Swee-Lin. 2020. Women Managers in Neoliberal Japan: Gender, Precarious Labour and Everyday Lives.
      London and New York: ROUTLEDGE (The Japan Anthropology Workshop Series). https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429197246

• 

  Ho, Swee-Lin. 2018. Friendship and Work Culture of Women Managers in Japan: Tokyo After Ten.
      London and New York: ROUTLEDGE (The Nissan Institute / Routledge Japanese Studies Series). https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315104218
  

CHAPTERS IN BOOKS

• Ho, Swee-Lin. 2023* ‘Women Managers in Japan and the Re-Creation of the Gendered Self through Angling 
       and Golf.’ In Handbook of Work & Leisure in Japan, edited by Isaac Gagné and Nana Okura Gagné. 
       Tokyo and London: Japan Documents Publishing (MHM). * Estimated publication date *

• Ho, Swee-Lin. 2022. ‘De-Gendering Alcohol through Food Pairing: Covid-19 and Middle-Aged Women’s Conflicted 
       Roles as Consumers and Cooks in Japan.’ In Alcohol, Age, Generation and the Life Course, edited by Thomas 
       Thurnell-Read and Laura Fenton. London and New York: Palgrave MacMillan.

• 

  Ho, Swee-Lin. 2021. "Reflections on Fieldwork in Post-Bubble Japan: Gender, Work, and Urban Space." In Studying 
       Japan: Handbook on Research Designs, Fieldwork and Methods, by Nora Kottmann and Bornelia Reiher, pages 231-
       236. Badan: NOMOS.

• 

  Ho, Swee-Lin, 2019. Women with Professional Careers in Japan's Male-Dominated, Corporate World. 
      In Understanding Japanese Society, by Joy Hendry, pages 208-9. London and New York: ROUTLEDGE.

• 

  Ho, Swee-Lin. 2012. Emotions, Desires and Fantasy: What Idolizing Means for Yon-sama Fans in Japan.
      In Idols and Celebrity in Japanese Media Culture, edited by Patrick W. Galbraith and
      Jason G. Karlin, pages 166-184. London and New York: PALGRAVE.

ARTICLES IN JOURNALS

• 

  Ho, Swee-Lin. 2015. ‘License to Drink’: White-Collar Female Workers and Japan’s Urban Night Space. 
      ETHNOGRAPHY  Volume 16, Issue 1, pages 25-50. 

• 

  Ho, Swee-Lin. 2012. Fuel for South Korea's ‘Global Dreams Factory’: The Desires of Parents Whose 
      Children Dream of Becoming K-pop Stars. KOREA OBSERVER  Volume 43, Issue 3, pages 471-502.

• 

  Ho, Swee-Lin. 2012. ‘Playing Like Men’: The Extramarital Experiences of Women in Contemporary Japan.
      ETHNOS  Volume 77, Issue 3, pages 321-343.

• 

  Ho, Swee-Lin. 2012. Tokyo at 10: Establishing Difference through the Friendship Networks of 
      Women Executives in Japan. THE JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE (JRAI)  
      Volume 18, Issue 1, pages 83-102.

• 

  Ho, Swee-Lin. 2011. Old Texts, New Desires: How the Korean Television Drama Daejanggeum Evokes 
      Reflexivity, Renewal and Resistance among Japanese Women. THE REVIEW OF KOREAN STUDIES   
      Volume 14, Issue 2, pages 91-113.

• 

  Ho, Swee-Lin. 2008. Private Love in Public Space: Love Hotels and the Transformation of Intimacy in
      Contemporary Japan. ASIAN STUDIES REVIEW  Volume 32, pages 31-56.
  

BOOK REVIEWS

• 

  Ho, Swee-Lin. 2021. Book Review of “Invisibility by Design: Women and Labor in Japan's Digital Economy” (2020) 
       by Gabriella Lukács, Duke University Press. ANTHROPOLOGICAL QUARTERLY Volume 94, Issue 2, pages 351–356.

•  

  Ho, Swee-Lin. 2020. Book Review of “Vamping the Stage: Female Voices of Asian Modernities” (2017) 
       edited by Andrew N. Weintraub and Bart Barendregt. THE JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL ANTHROPOLOGICAL 
       INSTITUTE (JRAI) Volume 26, Issue 2, pages 474-5.

• 

  Ho, Swee-Lin. 2018. Book Review of "Coal-Mining Women in Japan: Heavy Burdens" (2014) by W. Donald Burton. 
      Routledge. LABOR: STUDIES IN WORKING CLASS HISTORY  Volume 15, Number 4, pages 132-4.

   

CONFERENCE PAPERS

• Aug 2022      
  ‘Doing Ethnographic Field Research in the Cultural and Creative Industries'
  
  -– Graduate Seminar (MUA5163 Research Practices in Music), Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, NUS.

• Oct 2020       
  ‘Women for Japan’s Economy: Mobilizing Women for Economics and Perpetuating Gender Inequality
  in Neoliberal Japan’ 
  
  -–  Department Seminar, Gender Studies Department, The Chinese University of Hong Kong.

• Jul 2020*      
  KEYNOTE SPEAKER on ‘Gender, Womenomics and Precarious Work: What It Means to be Women
  Managers in Neoliberal Japan’ 
  
  -–  Asian Studies Association of Australia and Japanese Studies Association of Australia 
  International Conference, Melbourne.  * Cancelled due to Covid-19 *

• May 2019      
  ‘Friendship and Work Culture of Women Managers in Japan: Tokyo After Ten’ 
  
  -– Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture, Public Lecture Series, Tokyo.

• Oct 2018
  "Beautiful Sights Make Beautiful Sounds: Good Looks as ‘Star’ Power for Performing Classical Musicians 
  and Singers in Asia"
  
  -- International Conference on "In Search of Asian Beauty: Reclaiming Aesthetics in East Asia in 
  the 21st Century", organized by Yonsei University and Amore Asia-Pacific Foundation, Seoul.

• Sep 2018
  KEYNOTE SPEAKER on “Asian Universities’ Pursuit of World-Class Status and the Social Cost of Ignoring
  Difference and Diversity Among Academics” 
  
  -- The 6th International Academic Identities Conference on "The Peaceful University: Aspirations for
  Academic Future – Compassion, Generosity, Imagination, and Creation", organised by and held at the
  Research Institute for Higher Education (RIHE) of Hiroshima University, Japan.

• Feb 2018
  “Gendered Precarity: The Mixed Blessings of Being Women Managers in Japan” 
  
  -- International Symposium on "Singlehood, Living Alone and Work-Life Conflict in Japan", 
  organised and held at The Institute of Gender Studies, Ochanomizu University, Tokyo. 

• Aug 2017
  “Gendered Precarity: The Ambivalent and Conflicted Lives of Women Managers in Japan” 
  
  -- In the panel "Body, Affect and Selves In-between: From the Institutional Margins of Work and 
  Education in Contemporary Japan" at the 15th European Association of Japanese Studies (EAJS) 
  International Conference Studies in Lisbon, Portugal.

• Feb 2013
  “Global Gains; Local Pains: The Unbearable Costs of Intimate Labor for Aspiring K-pop Stars in South Korea” 
  
  -- Workshop on "The Global Reception of K-pop" held in Seoul, organised by The Center for Korean Studies and 
  Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley.

• Feb 2012
  “Fuel for South Korea's ‘Global Dreams Factory’: The Desires of Parents Whose Children Dream of 
  Becoming K-pop Stars”
  
  - Workshop on "The Korean Wave" organised by and held at The Center for Korean Studies and 
  Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley.

• Nov 2011
  Chaired the panel "Portraits of Working Women in Recessionary Japan: Continuity and Change" and presented on
  “Tokyo at Ten: The After-Work Drinking Friendship Networks of Women Managers in Contemporary Japan”
  
  - The 2011 Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association (AAA), Montreal, Canada.

• Oct 2011
  “A Nation's Unwanted Descendants: The Dekasegi Diaspora in Contemporary Japan” 
  
  -- At the "International Workshop on Multiculturalism and Mixed-ness in East Asia: A Comparative Analysis,"
  jointly organised by Yonsei University (South Korea), Waseda University (Japan) and Shih Hsin University
  (Taiwan), held in Taipei.

• Aug 2009
  Organised and chaired the panel "Changing Intimacies in Contemporary Japan" and presented a paper on 
  “The Making and Re-Making of Korean Masculinities and Japanese Femininities through Television Dramas”
  
  - The 2010 Annual Meeting of the Society for Social Studies of Science and The Japanese Society for Science 
  and Technology Studies (JSSTS), held at the University of Tokyo, Japan.

• Jul 2009
  Organised the panel "The Changing Social Worlds in Post-industrial Asia," and presented on 
  “Work, Money and Drinking: The Friendship Networks of Women Managers in Contemporary Japan”
  
  -- Inter-Asia Cultural Typhoon, held at the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Japan.

• Jan 2008
  “Drinking Networks, Korean TV Dramas and Internet Communities: The Changing Intimate 
  Lives of Married Women in Contemporary Japan”
  
  -- The Asia-Pacific Week 2008, Australian National University, Canberra.

• Jul 2007
  Presented a paper “Marriage, Sex and the Market: Women’s Changing Desires and Dilemmas in Japan”
  
  -  Graduate Workshop, School of Liberal Arts, Sophia University, Japan.

• Aug 2005
  Invited to present a paper on “Private Love and Public Space: Intimacy in Japan’s Love Hotels”
  
  - Centennial Conference "Asian Horizons: Cities, States and Societies," National University of Singapore.

• Mar 2005
  Presented a paper on “Managing Dilemmas: A Study of Female Infidelity in Contemporary Japan”
  
  - The 16th Japan Anthropology Workshop (JAWS), held The University of Hong Kong.

• Nov 2004
  Presented a paper on “The Dating Behaviors of Youths in Contemporary Japan”
  
  - The Annual Conference of The Society for Anthropology of Japan in Japan (AJJ), jointly hosted by 
  Sophia University and Waseda University, Japan.

• Sep 2004
  Presented a paper on “Desires and Dilemmas: An Ethnographic Study of Female Infidelity in Japan”
  
  - The Graduate Conference "Gender, Power and Politics," jointly organised by The National University 
  of Singapore and Asia Research Institute (Singapore).
  
  

• Sep 2018
  As Keynote Speaker on “Asian Universities’ Pursuit of World-Class Status and the Social Cost of Ignoring Difference and Diversity Among Academics” 
  
  - The 6th International Academic Identities Conference on "The Peaceful University: Aspirations for Academic Future – Compassion, Generosity, Imagination, and Creation", organised by and held at the Research Institute for Higher Education (RIHE) of Hiroshima University, Japan.

PAPERS FOR SEMINAR, PUBLIC TALK, LECTURE

• May 2019
  "Friendship and Work Culture of Women Managers in Japan: Tokyo After Ten"
  
  -- Sophia University's Institute of Comparative Culture Public Lecture Series, Tokyo.

• Sep 2016
  Delivered a lecture on "Ethnographic Knowledge in Action: Applying Anthropology and Sociology to Daily 
  Work in the Global Media"
  
  - SC4101 Practising Anthropology and Sociology, Department of Sociology, National
  University of Singapore

• Nov 2010
  Invited to deliver a lecture on “Contradictions and Controversies: The Making of Multiculturalism in 
  South Korea”
  
  - BST Performing Arts Theatre Company, Ansan Arts and Cultural Center, South Korea.

• May 2010
  Invited to deliver a lecture on “Work, Money and Drinking: The Friendship Networks of Women Managers in
  Contemporary Japan”
  
  - The Institute of Comparative Culture, Seoul National University, South Korea.

• Nov 2009
  Invited to deliver a lecture on “Wearing Multiculturalism Like Luis Vuitton: Global Re-Branding of 
  South Korea's Cultural Identity”
  
  - BST Performing Arts Theatre Company, Ansan Arts and Cultural Center, South Korea.

• Jan 2009
  Invited to present a paper on “Work, Money and Drinking: The Friendship Networks of Women Managers in Japan”
  
  - Department Seminar, Department of Japanese Studies, National University of Singapore.

• Oct 2007
  Invited to deliver a lecture on “Modern Desires, Traditional Intimacies: “Consuming” Korean Masculinities
  through TV Dramas Among Women in Japan” 
  
  - Gender and Media Lectures Series, University of Oxford.

• Oct 2007
  Invited to present a paper on “Marriage, Sex and the Market: Women’s Changing Desires and Dilemmas 
  in Contemporary Japan”
  
  -  Gender Colloquium, University of Tokyo, Japan.

• Jun 2007
  Invited to deliver a lecture on “Gender, Sexuality and Identity in Japan”
  
  -  Gender Lecture Series, Sophia University, Japan.

• May 2005
  Invited to deliver a lecture on “Desires and Dilemmas: The Extramarital Experiences of Women in Japan”
  
  -  Graduate Seminar, Sophia University, Japan.

• Mar 2005
  Invited to deliver a lecture on “Desires and Dilemmas: A Study of Female Infidelity in Japan” 
  
  - Department Seminar, Department of Japanese Studies, The University of Hong Kong.
  
  

THESES/DISSERTATIONS

• "Work, Money and Drinking: The Friendship Networks of Women Managers in Japan"
  
  Ph.D. in Social Anthropology, University of Oxford

• "Challenges and Constraints: The Lives of Divorced Single Mothers in Japan"
  
  M.Sc. in Social Anthropology, University of Oxford

• "Desires and Dilemmas: An Ethnographic Study of Female Infidelity in Modern Japan"
  
  M.A. in Comparative Culture (Sociology), Sophia University

• "The Case of Bad Faith in Jean Paul Sartre’s Existentialism"
  
  B.A. (Honours) in Philosophy, National University of Singapore
  
  

NON-ACADEMIC ESSAYS

• 

  "A Two Thousand-Year Journey in Three Days"
  
  - Korea Foundation Newsletter  (Jul 2009)

• 

  "A Day in Arashiyama: Encounters with ‘Strangers’"
  
  - Japan Railway & Transport Review (Sep 2008)

• 

  "Western Wiles to Woo the Market" (on PetroChina's IPO)
  
  - The Financial Times, Feature Article and Analysis (Mar 2000)
  
  
  For citings of several news-breaking reports on PetroChina, see URLs:
  
  http://www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org/2000/04/04/f-t-says-petrochina-hits-wall-of-political-objections-triggers-postponement-in-big-i-p-o-s-by-sinopec-baoshan-2/
  
  http://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/sudan1103/26.htm
  
  http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history2/27/China-National-Petroleum-Corporation.html
  
  

• 

  "The Big Test" -- on PetroChina's controversial plan for Initial Public Offerings on global stock exchanges 
  
  - The Economist Intelligence Unit (Jan 2000)

• 

  "A Talent for Shock Tactics" - Interview with Jimmy Lai, founder and former owner of Giordano and Apple Daily
  
  - The Financial Times (Feb 2000)

• 

  "Mickey Mouse to Fill Role Left Empty by Empire" - Feature on Hong Kong's Disneyland
  
  - The Financial Times (Nov 1999)

• 

  "Chinese Debt Insurance"
  
  - Bloomberg Magazine (Apr 1998)