Exploring the bottom-up reform of sex offender registration in China : Carceral feminism and populist authoritarianism

© 2020 Springer-Verlag. The final publication is available at Springer via https://doi.org/10.1007/s10611-020-09897-z.In 2017, the Minhang District of Shanghai introduced sex offender registration. This reform attracted positive reactions on social media. Local governments in Jiangsu, Guangdong and Chongqing quickly followed the precedent. In 2019, the central government announced that it will establish national sex offender registries by 2022, although it limited the scope of registration to paedophiles. This study explores how this bottom-up reform unfolded and what implications it has in theory and practice. Based on qualitative and quantitative analysis of 2261 posts on Weibo, the Chinese version of Twitter, this study reveals two major players in the current reform: the Chinese feminists who are pursuing a punitive agenda online (a phenomenon known as ‘carceral feminism’), and the local governments that are eager to win the public’s trust, although such trust is mainly reserved for the central authority in the Chinese political culture (a culture known as ‘populist authoritarianism’). Drawing on the findings, this study pushes the discussion about Chinese penal policy beyond the dichotomy of ‘penal professionalism’ and ‘penal populism’. It argues that while the influence of professionalism is evident in central-level policy making, local penal policies can be easily led by populist punitiveness. The latter deserves more academic attention. This study also takes a non-partisan approach to the feminist movements on Chinese social media. It reveals the class conflicts and regional inequality underlying the gender schism. The polarisation effect in online discussion is also highlighted, which alerts policy makers to the reliability of ‘public opinion’ online. (246 words).Peer reviewe

Mapping Disinformation During the Covid-19 in Indonesia: Qualitative Content Analysis

During life-threatening situations such as the Covid-19 pandemic, disinformation is rife. While people project their affective aspects into understanding the situation, their fear of Covid-19 interferes with their logical and reasonable assessment of disinformation. Less credible information such as rumors becomes reliable for some people. This study aims to map the disinformation category based on the Ministry of Communication and Information report from January to March 2020. There are 359 hoaxes with five categories and 30 sub-categories. This study uses qualitative content analysis as a method. The study results revealed that most of the disinformation during the Covid-19 pandemic was related to the spread of hoaxes on health issues. This research implies that several recommendations are made to respond to the urgency of handling disinformation during Covid-19 in Indonesia, such as initiating digital literacy and media literacy in the national education system

Cultural China 2021

Cultural China is a unique annual publication for up-to-date, informed and accessible commentary about Chinese and Sinophone languages, cultural practices, politics and production, and their critical analysis. It builds on the University of Westminster’s Contemporary China Centre Blog, providing additional reflective introductory pieces to contextualise each of the seven chapters. The articles in this Review speak to the challenging and eventful year that was 2021 as it unfolded across cultural China. Thematically, they range from health and medicine, environment, food, children and parenting, via film, red culture and calls for action. Many of the articles in this book focus on the People’s Republic of China, but they also draw attention to the multiple Chinese and Sinophone cultural practices that exist within, across, and beyond national borders. The Review is distinctive in its cultural studies-based approach and contributes a much-needed critical perspective from the Humanities to the study of cultural China. It aims to promote interdisciplinary dialogue and debate about the social, cultural, political, and historical dynamics that inform life in cultural China today, offering academics, activists, practitioners, and politicians a key reference with which to situate current events in and relating to cultural China in a wider context

AN INVESTIGATION OF THE CURRENT SYSTEM OF DESTINATION MANAGEMENT ORGANISATIONS- THE CASE OF CHINA

This research investigates Destination Management Organisation (DMOs) in China, and looks at their functions and their adoption of Performance Measurement Systems (PMSs). A two-stage questionnaire survey has adopted to achieve the pre-determined aims of the research. Finally, ninety-three DMOs took part in the first stage survey and thirty-four DMOs were involved in the second stage survey. The key findings from the research are as follows. (1) Irrespective of their nature and level, Chinese DMOs attached most importance to the functions of “economic-driver”, “marketing” and “coordination & collaboration”. (2) DMOs attached a second level of importance to the functions of “operator”, “administrator”, “statistics” and “training”; however, particularly at municipality and city levels; also Chinese public DMOs paid more attention to these aspects. (3) Chinese public DMOs, particularly at provincial and city level, placed more emphasis on the functions of “regulator” and “legitimacy”. (4) Chinese higher-level public DMOs paid less attention to the function of “public awareness”, “funding” and “international relations”, however they did performed much better than non-public lower-level DMOs to these tasks. (5) Chinese governmental DMOs at higher-level, and private DMOs, were the best at adopting PMSs in their organisations. (6) The PMSs of Chinese DMOs paid greatest attention to measuring the aspects of “visitor”, “earning” and “marketing”, and medium levels of attention to the aspects of “stakeholder”, “operation” and “event”, and relatively low attention to evaluating their performance of the aspects of “employment” and “innovation” in their organisations. Finally, a refined PMS model that could be adopted by Chinese DMOs in the future was developed at the end. Based on the above findings, the refined model aimed to measure the performance of “stakeholders”, “employees” and “customers” by assessing the outcomes of the aspects of “management” and “marketing” for Chinese DMOs. The refined PMS model was developed and based on the top-down operation system that currently existed in China and was supposed to pursue every major aspect of the system for each stakeholder in the DMOs

Cultural China 2021

Cultural China is a unique annual publication for up-to-date, informed and accessible commentary about Chinese and Sinophone languages, cultural practices, politics and production, and their critical analysis. It builds on the University of Westminster’s Contemporary China Centre Blog, providing additional reflective introductory pieces to contextualise each of the seven chapters. The articles in this Review speak to the challenging and eventful year that was 2021 as it unfolded across cultural China. Thematically, they range from health and medicine, environment, food, children and parenting, via film, red culture and calls for action. Many of the articles in this book focus on the People’s Republic of China, but they also draw attention to the multiple Chinese and Sinophone cultural practices that exist within, across, and beyond national borders. The Review is distinctive in its cultural studies-based approach and contributes a much-needed critical perspective from the Humanities to the study of cultural China. It aims to promote interdisciplinary dialogue and debate about the social, cultural, political, and historical dynamics that inform life in cultural China today, offering academics, activists, practitioners, and politicians a key reference with which to situate current events in and relating to cultural China in a wider context

Chinese parents with gay or lesbian children : reflections, experiences, and family relationships

The purpose of this study was to examine Chinese parents’ reactions and attitudes towards their child’s same-sex sexual orientation after their child’s coming out. It aimed to amplify the voices from a marginalised and socially oppressed group—Chinese parents of a gay or lesbian child. However, due to Chinese parents of a same-sex attracted adult child being a hard-to-reach population, I endeavoured to gain more information about their experiences by also talking with adult same-sex attracted children and seeking their reflections on their parents’ reactions and attitudes. This research is the first, to my knowledge, to comprehensively explore Chinese parents’ reactions towards their gay or lesbian child’s coming out through a feminist post-structuralist lens by interviewing groups of both Chinese parents and adult child participants. Findings from this work point to the connection between increased societal visibility and recognition of sexuality diversity and an increase in parents’ uncertainty, fear and disappointment within the parent/same-sex attracted adult child relationship. While some narratives communicated stagnant and negative relationships that seemed as if they could not be repaired, others highlighted the growth and change that were possible with increased exposure to affirming information about sexuality diversity. Accordingly, a number of recommendations emerge from this work. First, exposure to and visibility of sexuality diversity in educational institutions should be increased, such as including knowledge of sexuality diversity in school curriculums and textbooks; this will not only improve individuals’ recognition of sexuality diversity, but will also help prevent homophobic language and behaviour. Second, all types of gay “conversion” therapies in the medical and clinical service system should be banned, to clearly address the point that same-sex attraction is neither a disease nor a psychological problem that can be cured. Third, there should be an increase in affirming content related to sexuality diversity in the media. Finally, relevant legislation and policies should be established to acknowledge and protect the social rights of same-sex attracted people within society. Such moves could not only help to normalise same-sex attracted individuals and reduce homophobic discrimination and stigma, but also could improve the well-being and self-esteem of both same-sex attracted individuals and their parents

Cultural China 2020

Cultural China is a unique annual publication for up-to-date, informed, and accessible commentary about Chinese and Sinophone languages, cultural practices, politics and production, and their critical analysis. It builds on the University of Westminster’s Contemporary China Centre Blog, providing additional reflective introductory pieces to contextualise each of the eight chapters. The articles in this Review speak to the turbulent year that was 2020 as it unfolded across cultural China. Thematically, they range from celebrity culture, fashion and beauty, to religion and spirituality, via language politics, heritage, and music. Pieces on representations of China in Britain and the Westminster Chinese Visual Arts Project reflect our particular location and home. Many of the articles in this book focus on the People’s Republic of China, but they also draw attention to the multiple Chinese and Sinophone cultural practices that exist within, across, and beyond national borders. The Review is distinctive in its cultural studies-based approach and contributes a much-needed critical perspective from the Humanities to the study of cultural China. It aims to promote interdisciplinary dialogue and debate about the social, cultural, political, and historical dynamics that inform life in cultural China today, offering academics, activists, practitioners, and politicians a key reference with which to situate current events in and relating to cultural China in a wider context

Cultural China 2020: The Contemporary China Centre Review

Cultural China is a unique annual publication for up-to-date, informed, and accessible commentary about Chinese and Sinophone languages, cultural practices, politics and production, and their critical analysis. It builds on the University of Westminster’s Contemporary China Centre Blog, providing additional reflective introductory pieces to contextualise each of the eight chapters. The articles in this Review speak to the turbulent year that was 2020 as it unfolded across cultural China. Thematically, they range from celebrity culture, fashion and beauty, to religion and spirituality, via language politics, heritage, and music. Pieces on representations of China in Britain and the Westminster Chinese Visual Arts Project reflect our particular location and home. Many of the articles in this book focus on the People’s Republic of China, but they also draw attention to the multiple Chinese and Sinophone cultural practices that exist within, across, and beyond national borders. The Review is distinctive in its cultural studies-based approach and contributes a much-needed critical perspective from the Humanities to the study of cultural China. It aims to promote interdisciplinary dialogue and debate about the social, cultural, political, and historical dynamics that inform life in cultural China today, offering academics, activists, practitioners, and politicians a key reference with which to situate current events in and relating to cultural China in a wider context

Music in the international market : differences and distribution : the case of Italy and China

Historically there has been limited transmission of musical ideas between Italy and China. When music travels between cultures it is subject to change and transformation and this cultural exchange is the foundation for popular music as we know it today. Within this dissertation, we will firstly analyse what makes music enjoyable for people through an analysis of genre. Then, perform a comparative analysis of their respective regional music genres and analyse similarities between them. Through this we can understand the similarities between the two markets and understand possible modes of entry for Italian musicians into the Chinese market. The motivation for this analysis is to ascertain whether there is a space for Italian musicians to find an audience in China. By understand the similarities between the countries we can find elements within Italian musicians’ product that will reduce the amount of alienation within the Chinese market.Tradicionalmente, tem sido reduzida a transmissão de noções e conceitos de música entre a Itália e a China. Quando a música viaja entre culturas está sujeita a mudanças e transformações, sendo este intercâmbio cultural a base da música popular tal como a conhecemos hoje. Com esta dissertação, pretende-se, em primeiro lugar, analisar o que leva a música ter um efeito positivo nas pessoas, através de uma análise de género. De seguida, far-se-á uma análise comparativa entre os diferentes géneros musicais regionais, analisando as semelhanças entre aqueles. Com este estudo, será possível compreender as semelhanças entre os dois países, e perceber como é que a música italiana poderá entrar no contexto chinês. O objetivo desta análise é verificar se existe público na China para os músicos italianos. Ao compreender as semelhanças entre estes dois países, poder-se-á encontrar elementos no espectro musical italiano que contribua para reduzir uma elevada indiferença à música italiana no mercado chinês