‘Emptying the cage, changing the birds’: state rescaling, path-dependency and the politics of economic restructuring in post-crisis Guangdong

This paper evaluates how economic restructuring in Guangdong is entwined with the politicization of state rescaling during and after the global financial crisis of 2008. It shows how a key industrial policy known as ‘double relocation’ generated tensions between the Guangdong government, then led by Party Secretary Wang Yang, and the senior echelon of the Communist Party of China in Beijing. The contestations and negotiations that ensued illustrate the dynamic entwinement between state rescaling and institutional path-dependency: the Wang administration launched this industrial policy in spite of potentially destabilizing effects on the prevailing national structure of capital accumulation. This foregrounds, in turn, the constitutive and constraining effects of established, national-level policies on local, territorially-specific restructuring policies

Post-capitalist property

When writing about property and property rights in his imagined post-capitalist society of the future, Marx seemed to envisage ‘individual property’ co-existing with ‘socialized property’ in the means of production. As the social and political consequences of faltering growth and increasing inequality, debt and insecurity gradually manifest themselves, and with automation and artificial intelligence lurking in the wings, the future of capitalism, at least in its current form, looks increasingly uncertain. With this, the question of what property and property rights might look like in the future, in a potentially post-capitalist society, is becoming ever more pertinent. Is the choice simply between private property and markets, and public (state-owned) property and planning? Or can individual and social property in the (same) means of production co-exist, as Marx suggested? This paper explores ways in which they might, through an examination of the Chinese household responsibility system (HRS) and the ‘fuzzy’ and seemingly confusing regime of land ownership that it instituted. It examines the HRS against the backdrop of Marx’s ideas about property and subsequent (post-Marx) theorizing about the legal nature of property in which property has come widely to be conceptualized not as a single, unitary ‘ownership’ right to a thing (or, indeed, as the thing itself) but as a ‘bundle of rights’. The bundle-of-rights idea of property, it suggests, enables us to see not only that ‘individual’ and ‘socialized’ property’ in the (same) means of production might indeed co-exist, but that the range of institutional possibility is far greater than that between capitalism and socialism/communism as traditionally conceived

Reactivation of simian immunodeficiency virus reservoirs in the brain of virally suppressed macaques

Objective: Resting CD4 T cells have been recognized as the major cell reservoir of latent HIV-1 during antiretroviral therapy (ART). Using an simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV)/macaque model for AIDS and HIV-related neurocognitive disorders we assessed the contribution of the brain to viral latency and reactivation. Design: Pigtailed macaques were dual inoculated with SIVDeltaB670 and SIV17E-Fr and treated with an efficacious central nervous system-penetrant ART. After 500 days of viral suppression animals were treated with two cycles of latency reversing agents and increases in viral transcripts were examined. Methods: Longitudinal plasma and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) viral loads were analyzed by quantitative and digital droplet PCR. After necropsy, viral transcripts in organs were analyzed by PCR, in-situ hybridization, and phylogenetic genotyping based on env V1 loop sequences. Markers for neuronal damage and CSF activation were measured by ELISA. Results: Increases in activation markers and plasma and CSF viral loads were observed in one animal treated with latency reversing agents, despite ongoing ART. SIV transcripts were identified in occipital cortex macrophages by in-situ hybridization and CD68 staining. The most abundant SIV genotype in CSF was unique and expanded independent from viruses found in the periphery. Conclusion: The central nervous system harbors latent SIV genomes after long-term viral suppression by ART, indicating that the brain represents a potential viral reservoir and should be seriously considered during AIDS cure strategies.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Incivility on Diaoyu Island sovereignty in Tianya Club

Online discussion boards are an increasingly popular mode of public engagement with political and social issues. This case study examines data drawn from online debates on a discussion board regarding a historical dispute between China and Japan since 1895. 1 This research explores how incivility, a concept developed by western scholars and applied to western communication patterns, can be applied to a Chinese cultural context while also considering the characteristics of emotional responses to the specific issue in the forum. Prior research has demonstrated that, due to the absence of a gatekeeper on such forums who would filter or edit content for public consumption, discussion of prominent issues can get heated without a gatekeeper. A textual analysis of incivility found that fear and disgust were not typical emotional responses to incivility among the members of the forum. On the contrary, 'support' was the most identified emotional response in this particular case. In conclusion, cultural context, characteristics of an issue, and characteristics of a particular topic are all important factors that affect 'incivility' and 'emotional response' in online comments on Diaoyu Island Sovereignty on Tianya Club

RESTRUCTURING CHINA'S WELFARE REGIME AT THE LOCAL LEVEL: A Case Study

This article focuses on the restructuring of the governing apparatus of occupational welfare in the industrial sector within a territorial hierarchy during the reform era. The paper focuses on the transformation to a program-centered provision from a work-unit-centered provision in examining the restructuring of the programs of occupational benefits in three cases: retirement benefits, medical care and housing. The paper also analyzes the changing role of each type of public organization as well as the relationship among them in the wake of economic reform. Copyright 2001 by The Policy Studies Organization.

Social Impetus, Economic Roots, and Political Logic: China’s Transformation Through the Lens of American History

China is facing a crucial turning point in its sociopolitical development with the recent turnover of the leadership and the potential of further reform carried out by the new administration. To shed light on the future of China, this research compares the United States between 1789 and 1917 with China between 1949 and 2012. We examine the social impetus, economic roots, and political logic of the great transformations of the two countries. Through the lens of American history, we argue, first, that social discontent in the short run may push structural reform forward. Second, to transform the passive, piecemeal, and unpredictable reform into a proactive, systematic, and integral reform, we propose that China must build social consensus and a strong middle class.link_to_subscribed_fulltex