Dr. Heather Streets-Salter introduced the Noulens Affair & its historical significance. The Noulens Affair took place in Shanghai in 1931- Joseph Ducroux, a spy for the Malaysian Communist Party was arrested for his overt and unlawful actions in Singapore. The authorities seized his address book and tracked down Hilaire Noulens and his wife in Shanghai. In Shanghai, a wealth of information was uncovered leading to 100s of arrests and a greater understanding of the extent of the connections between national communist groups. Dr. Streets-Salter believes that this event deserves more attention and research due to its significance in conceptualizing 20th-century empires, the origins of the Cold War, the intricacies of communism, and race and gender in international communism.<\/p>\n
One of the most interesting components of this lecture was the acknowledgment of gender roles in communism. Dr. Streets-Salter explained that although women believed in the mission and at times aided the movement they were rarely named and when paid received considerably less. For example, in the Noulens Affair literature, Hilairie Noulen’s wife is rarely, if ever, mentioned by name. I’m interested to know if women were ever used as “secret weapons” so to speak. Since society and communism more specifically seemed to view their work as primarily a man’s work, women might be uniquely positioned to infiltrate secret societies and gather information unnoticed. I’m very curious about the balance between maintaining and enforcing gender roles and pushing the communist agenda through any means necessary. Would communist groups be willing to overlook their conceptions of a woman to gather information or better spread their messaging?\u00a0Similarly, Dr. Streets-Salter introduced the role of race in the communist movement. She shared that in her reading she’s found that European sources almost exclusively told the story of the Noulens affair with white men as the main actors. They didn’t believe that colonial subjects would be able to understand communism. This is especially interesting given the pervasiveness of communism worldwide- where people of different racial and ethnic backgrounds bought into it. It’s also a little paradoxical because communism is supposed to afford more equality to its members. Presumably, in an ideal world, both women and colonial people would be included in communism.<\/p>\n
An audience member raised a question about Christian missionaries as critics during this time period. Dr. Streets-Salter said that she would need more research to fully answer this question. Both the question and response highlight the complexity of the situation. Even through this short case study of the Noulens Affair, it’s evident that the origins of communism and national disputes far predate the Cold War. I’m inclined to agree with Dr. Streets-Salter’s statement of a need for further, research. I’d also be interested in the gender and race roles that played into possible criticisms of communism.<\/p>\n
In conclusion, race and gender affected the way that communist groups. Going forward it would be interesting to further explore these relationships- especially in the context of a case study like the Noulens affair.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dr. Heather Streets-Salter introduced the Noulens Affair & its historical significance. The Noulens Affair took place in Shanghai in 1931- Joseph Ducroux, a spy for the Malaysian Communist Party was arrested for his overt and unlawful actions in Singapore. The authorities seized his address book and tracked down Hilaire Noulens and his wife in Shanghai. … <\/p>\n