Confronting Discrimination and Inequality in China

Confronting Discrimination and Inequality in China focuses on the most challenging areas of discrimination and inequality in China, including discrimination faced by HIV/AIDS afflicted individuals, rural populations, migrant workers, women, people with disabilities, and ethnic minorities. The Canadian contributors offer rich regional, national, and international perspectives on how constitutions, laws, policies, and practices, both in Canada and in other parts of the world, battle discrimination and the conflicts that rise out of it. The Chinese contributors include some of the most independent-minded scholars and practitioners in China. Their assessments of the challenges facing China in the areas of discrimination and inequality not only attest to their personal courage and intellectual freedom but also add an important perspective on this emerging superpower

Confronting Discrimination and Inequality in China

Confronting Discrimination and Inequality in China focuses on the most challenging areas of discrimination and inequality in China, including discrimination faced by HIV/AIDS afflicted individuals, rural populations, migrant workers, women, people with disabilities, and ethnic minorities. The Canadian contributors offer rich regional, national, and international perspectives on how constitutions, laws, policies, and practices, both in Canada and in other parts of the world, battle discrimination and the conflicts that rise out of it. The Chinese contributors include some of the most independent-minded scholars and practitioners in China. Their assessments of the challenges facing China in the areas of discrimination and inequality not only attest to their personal courage and intellectual freedom but also add an important perspective on this emerging superpower

生物多様性保全アプローチに基づく都市湿地景観の評価と設計の最適化に関する研究--中国の都市湿地：西渓、通健湖、青山湖をケーススタディとして

This thesis addresses the problems of lacking further concept of biodiversity conservation, being short of long-term biodiversity conservation sustainability awareness and unclear design methods and effects in the current urban wetland landscape design. Through field research and comparative research of three different types of typical urban wetland landscapes in specific regions: urban core, urban fringe and urban suburban, the thesis analyses the key issues and design methods affecting urban wetland biodiversity, clarifies the main factors of their problems, proposes suitable solutions, and establishes a scientific and reasonable design theoretical framework and methodological practice. The ultimate goal is to make urban wetland landscapes more biodiverse and provide better ecological services, meanwhile to meet people\u27s needs for cultural, physical and psychological well-being, and last to provide theoretical references for the design and management departments of urban wetland landscapes for scientific planning.北九州市立大

Contentious Activities and Party-State Responses in Contemporary China -- Investigating China’s Democratisation during its Modernisation

The macroscopic picture of China today is highly contradictory: on the one hand there is an explicit scenario of modernisation initiated by the government and developing in unexpected depth and rapidity, and on the other hand an implicit but unrecognised scenario of democratisation nurtured by modernisation and actively involving different social forces. Due to the intensifying social problems – and perhaps even social crisis – that accompany the many transformations, such as the restructuring relationship between Party-state, society and individuals and the changing culture and value system, remarkable contentious activities have been launched by a wide range of social actors striving for their rights and interests. Underneath the dynamic character of contentions in China, this research will try to test the normative and ethical presumption that contentious politics promotes both robust civil society and representative government – the substance of democracy. I examine the contentious actions of the three significant social groups - the labourers, intellectuals and religious groups - and the Party-state responses to their politics, which are largely co-optation, toleration and control-repression. I also examine the important dynamic between centre and province with regard to their responses. My methods of documentation, interviewing and internet content analysis have been adopted in order to study these contentions and Party-state responses. The thesis concludes that the relationships between Party-state, society and individuals are restructured in contentions and interactions driven by modernisation. There are mounting democratic pressures and open demands from people with an increasing political consciousness, which challenge authority to different extents all over the country and will lead to China’s democratisation in both bottom-up and top-down directions

The Imperial Silk Factories of Kangxi in China, 1661-1722 A mirror for Louis XIV’s Royal Factories?

Programa de Doctorado en Historia y Estudios Humanísticos: Europa, América, Arte y LenguasLínea de Investigación: Historia y Estudios Humanísticos: Europa, América, Arte y GeografíaClave Programa: DHHCódigo Línea: 121This thesis explains the theoretical background and development of contemporary global and consumer historiography; it examines the interactions and connections between a then seemingly closed China and the outside world through missionaries, the tribute system and overseas trade during the Qing empire. It examines the forms of business organisation, production processes, sources of finance, personnel management, the income and social status of artisans, products and trade channels of the imperial silk factories in late seventeenth- and eighteenth-century China and those court-supplying silk factories of Louis XIV in France. Comparisons and correlations reveal the links established through the exchange of missionaries and goods between these two distant monarchical territories, and the impact of these cultural contacts. The jesuits sent by Louis XIV arrived at the court of the Kangxi emperor with a well-thought-out research programme and the best equipment of the time to investigate almost all areas of China, such as history, geography, medicine, flora and fauna, handicrafts and so on. The missionaries left behind abundant letters, diaries and translations that built bridges for western research and understanding of China, as well as completing Colbert’s global information-gathering project, thus contributing to his mercantilist strategy. Both the imperial silk factories of Kangxi and those court supplying factories of Louis XIV were the expression of the will of the central power, which, by virtue of its economic control and administrative power, planned, designed, produced and marketed silk production at the highest level throughout its territory. The Chinese imperial silk factories, which flourished under the Kangxi period, were entirely subordinate to the central power and catered entirely to the needs of the court and the bureaucratic administrative system, and were not market-oriented for profit. The mercantilist economic line of Louis XIV also brought a strong influence of royal power over the state silk industry, with the difference that the court-supplying silk factories were mostly privately owned and the royal family was their main customer. The imperial silk factories of Kangxi were under strict control of a centralised feudal system, with countless laws and regulations, inscriptions warning of common faults and defects in the weaving industry, and even severe punishments, all of which served to guarantee the quality and efficiency of production in the imperial silk mills. In France, on the other hand, during the same period, in order to promote the development of the country’s silk weaving industry, Colbert produced an unprecedented number of decrees and specific regulations on production processes and quality control, as well as corresponding punitive mechanisms. A wealth of historical sources has been used in this thesis, such as the imperial archives of the First Historical Archives of Chinese, “archival collections” and old books, local gazetteers, municipal archives, archive of “Fonds de la Grande Fabrique de soie 1563-1791”, and other works and essays. The cross-reference of historical sources and the biases created by cultural differences could stimulate new perspectives and understandings. Although more direct evidence is lacking, in the context of missionary activity at the Chinese court and the encyclopaedic global research of the French Royal Academy of Sciences, and the well-documented collateral evidence of commercial espionage in the manufacture of ceramics, it would be inferred that information about the silk factories of the Kangxi emperor must have served Colbert’s mercantilist economic strategy. Comparing the imperial silk factories of Kangxi with those court-supplying silk factories of Louis XIV, this thesis examines the connections and integration, the extensive central intervention in the national silk industry, the flow of silk production, the separation of production and distribution, and the specific decrees and regulations for quality control. All of this suggests that the Chinese imperial silk factories of Kangxi may well have influenced the French silk industry, thanks to the role of the missionary bridge, and that the court-supplying silk factories of Louis XIV can be presumed to be a mirror reflection image of the Kangxi imperial silk mills.Esta tesis explica los antecedentes teóricos y el desarrollo de la historiografía global y del consumo contemporánea; examina las interacciones y conexiones entre una China entonces aparentemente cerrada y el mundo exterior a través de los misioneros, el sistema de tributos y el comercio de ultramar durante el imperio Qing. Examina las formas de organización empresarial, los procesos de producción, las fuentes de financiación, la gestión del personal, los ingresos y el estatus social de los artesanos, los productos y los canales comerciales de las fábricas de seda imperiales de la China de finales del siglo XVII y del XVIII y de las fábricas de seda que abastecían a la corte de Luis XIV en Francia. Las comparaciones y correlaciones revelan los vínculos establecidos a través del intercambio de misioneros y mercancías entre estos dos distantes territorios monárquicos, así como el impacto de estos contactos culturales. Los jesuitas enviados por Luis XIV llegaron a la corte del emperador Kangxi con un estudiado programa de investigación y el mejor equipamiento de la época para investigar casi todos los ámbitos de China, como la historia, la geografía, la medicina, la flora y la fauna, la artesanía, etcétera. Los misioneros dejaron abundantes cartas, diarios y traducciones que tendieron puentes para la investigación y comprensión occidentales de China, además de completar el proyecto de recopilación de información global de Colbert, contribuyendo así a su estrategia mercantilista. En esta tesis se han utilizado abundantes fuentes históricas, como los archivos imperiales del Primer Archivo Histórico de China, “colecciones de archivos” y libros antiguos, nomenclátores locales, archivos municipales, archivo del “Fonds de la Grande Fabrique de soie 1563-1791”, y otras obras y ensayos. El cruce de fuentes históricas y los sesgos creados por las diferencias culturales podrían estimular nuevas perspectivas y comprensiones. Tanto las fábricas de seda imperiales de Kangxi como las que abastecían a la corte de Luis XIV eran la expresión de la voluntad del poder central, que, en virtud de su control económico y su poder administrativo, planificaba, diseñaba, producía y comercializaba la producción de seda al más alto nivel en todo su territorio. Las fábricas de seda imperiales chinas, que florecieron bajo el periodo de Kangxi, estaban totalmente subordinadas al poder central y atendían enteramente a las necesidades de la corte y del sistema administrativo burocrático, y no estaban orientadas al mercado con ánimo de lucro. La línea económica mercantilista de Luis XIV también supuso una fuerte influencia del poder real sobre la industria estatal de la seda, con la diferencia de que las fábricas de seda proveedoras de la corte eran en su mayoría de propiedad privada y la familia real era su principal cliente. Las fábricas de seda imperiales de Kangxi estaban bajo el estricto control de un sistema feudal centralizado, con innumerables leyes y reglamentos, inscripciones que advertían de las faltas y defectos comunes en la industria del tejido e incluso severos castigos, todo lo cual servía para garantizar la calidad y la eficacia de la producción en las fábricas de seda imperiales. En Francia, por su parte, durante el mismo periodo, con el fin de promover el desarrollo de la industria del tejido de la seda del país, Colbert elaboró un número sin precedentes de decretos y reglamentos específicos sobre los procesos de producción y el control de calidad, así como los correspondientes mecanismos punitivos. Aunque faltan pruebas más directas, en el contexto de la actividad misionera en la corte china y la enciclopédica investigación global de la Real Academia de Ciencias francesa, y las bien documentadas pruebas colaterales de espionaje comercial en la fabricación de cerámica, cabría deducir que la información sobre las fábricas de seda del emperador Kangxi debió de servir a la estrategia económica mercantilista de Colbert. Comparando las fábricas de seda imperiales de Kangxi con las fábricas de seda proveedoras de la corte de Luis XIV, esta tesis examina las conexiones y la integración, la amplia intervención central en la industria nacional de la seda, el flujo de la producción de seda, la separación de la producción y la distribución, y los decretos y reglamentos específicos para el control de calidad. Todo ello sugiere que las fábricas de seda imperiales chinas de Kangxi bien pudieron influir en la industria francesa de la seda, gracias al papel del puente misionero, y que las fábricas proveedoras de la corte de Luis XIV pueden presumirse un reflejo especular de las sederías imperiales de Kangxi.Universidad Pablo de Olavide de Sevilla. Departamento de Geografía, Historia y Filosofí

Life Histories of Etnos Theory in Russia and Beyond

The idea of etnos came into being over a hundred years ago as a way of understanding the collective identities of people with a common language and shared traditions. In the twentieth century, the concept came to be associated with Soviet state-building, and it fell sharply out of favour. Yet outside the academy, etnos-style arguments not only persist, but are a vibrant part of regional anthropological traditions. Life Histories of Etnos Theory in Russia and Beyond makes a powerful argument for reconsidering the importance of etnos in our understanding of ethnicity and national identity across Eurasia. The collection brings to life a rich archive of previously unpublished letters, fieldnotes, and photographic collections of the theory’s early proponents. Using contemporary fieldwork and case studies, the volume shows how the ideas of these ethnographers continue to impact and shape identities in various regional theatres from Ukraine to the Russian North to the Manchurian steppes of what is now China. Through writing a life history of these collectivist concepts, the contributors to this volume unveil a world where the assumptions of liberal individualism do not hold. In doing so, they demonstrate how notions of belonging are not fleeting but persistent, multi-generational, and bio-social

Life Histories of Etnos Theory in Russia and Beyond

Publisher PD

Typological variation across Sinitic languages

Decades of works dedicated to the description of (previously) lesser-known Sinitic languages have effectively dispelled the common myth that these languages share a single “universal Chinese grammar”. Yet, the underlying cause of their grammatical variation is still a matter for debate. This thesis focuses on the typological variation across Sinitic varieties. Through comparing the typological profiles of various Sinitic languages with those of their non-Sinitic neighbors, we discuss to what extent the variation within the Sinitic branch can be attributed to areal diffusion. Variation across Sinitic is often explained from the perspective of language contact – sandwiched between Altaic languages to its north and Mainland Southeast Asian (MSEA) languages to its south, Sinitic can be considered typologically intermediate between these two groups of languages, where Northern Sinitic shows signs of convergence towards Altaic languages and Southern Sinitic towards MSEA languages. For example, the northern varieties tend to have a smaller number of classifiers, tones and codas, as well as a stronger tendency to disyllabicity and head-final constructions. However, the notion of “Altaicization” (Hashimoto 1976) is a moot point. Despite the typological differences between Northern Sinitic and Southern Sinitic, as Bennet (1979) argues, there is little evidence for “Altaicization” as many of such differences can hardly be put down to Altaic influence; instead, they are more likely due to the typological convergence between Southern Sinitic and MSEA languages. Moreover, there is evidence that the typological variation across Sinitic cannot be amply explained by areal influence from non-Sinitic languages. Some Sinitic varieties are known to exhibit certain distinct typological characteristics. For instance, analyzing the disposal, passive, and comparative constructions across the Sinitic branch, Chappell (2015b) argues that there are no fewer than five principal linguistic areas in China. Taking into account over 350 language varieties of seven different genetic affiliations (Sinitic, Turkic, Mongolic, Tungusic, Hmong-Mien, Tai-Kadai, Austroasiatic) and 30 linguistic features, we conduct a typological survey with the aid of the phylogenetic program NeighborNet (Bryant & Moulton 2004). Our results suggest that convergence towards their non-Sinitic neighbors has indeed played a pivotal role in the typological diversity of Sinitic languages. Based primarily on their degree of Altaic/MSEA influence, the Sinitic varieties in our database are classified into four areal groups, namely 1) Northern, 2) Transitional, 3) Central Southeastern, 4) Far Southern. This classification scheme reflects the intricate interplay between areal convergence, regional innovations, and retention of archaic features. The findings suggest that contact-induced typological change can occur rather rapidly, especially if given the appropriate sociolinguistic conditions. Furthermore, this thesis highlights the interdependence between the meticulous analysis of qualitative linguistic data and the proper application of quantitative tools in typological studies. Although this study is chiefly concerned with Sinitic typology, the quantitative approach adopted herein can potentially help shed new light on the challenge of typological comparison in other areas

Life Histories of Etnos Theory in Russia and Beyond

The idea of etnos came into being over a hundred years ago as a way of understanding the collective identities of people with a common language and shared traditions. In the twentieth century, the concept came to be associated with Soviet state-building, and it fell sharply out of favour. Yet outside the academy, etnos-style arguments not only persist, but are a vibrant part of regional anthropological traditions. Life Histories of Etnos Theory in Russia and Beyond makes a powerful argument for reconsidering the importance of etnos in our understanding of ethnicity and national identity across Eurasia. The collection brings to life a rich archive of previously unpublished letters, fieldnotes, and photographic collections of the theory’s early proponents. Using contemporary fieldwork and case studies, the volume shows how the ideas of these ethnographers continue to impact and shape identities in various regional theatres from Ukraine to the Russian North to the Manchurian steppes of what is now China. Through writing a life history of these collectivist concepts, the contributors to this volume unveil a world where the assumptions of liberal individualism do not hold. In doing so, they demonstrate how notions of belonging are not fleeting but persistent, multi-generational, and bio-social

Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability-Volume 2

Our world is facing many challenges, such as poverty, hunger, resource shortage, environmental degradation, climate change, and increased inequalities and conflicts. To address such challenges, the United Nations proposed the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), consisting of 17 interlinked global goals, as the strategic blueprint of world sustainable development. Nevertheless, the implementation of the SDG framework has been very challenging and the COVID-19 pandemic has further impeded the SDG implementation progress. Accelerated efforts are needed to enable all stakeholders, ranging from national and local governments, civil society, private sector, academia and youth, to contribute to addressing this dilemma. This volume of the Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability book series aims to offer inspiration and creativity on approaches to sustainable development. Among other things, it covers topics of COVID-19 and sustainability, environmental pollution, food production, clean energy, low-carbon transport promotion, and strategic governance for sustainable initiatives. This book can reveal facts about the challenges we are facing on the one hand and provide a better understanding of drivers, barriers, and motivations to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all on the other. Research presented in this volume can provide different stakeholders, including planners and policy makers, with better solutions for the implementation of SDGs. Prof. Bao-Jie He acknowledges the Project NO. 2021CDJQY-004 supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities. We appreciate the assistance from Mr. Lifeng Xiong, Mr. Wei Wang, Ms. Xueke Chen and Ms. Anxian Chen at School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Chongqing University, China