Category Archives: Jacqueline Nivard

Shanghai future

Anna Greenspan (2014), Shanghai Future. Modernity Remade, London, Hurst.

China is in the midst of the fastest and most intense process of urbanisation the world has ever known, and Shanghai — its biggest, richest and most cosmopolitan city — is positioned for acceleration into the twenty-first century.

Yet, in its embrace of a hopeful — even exultant — futurism, Shanghai recalls the older and much criticised project of imagining, planning and building the modern metropolis. Today, among Westerners, at least, the very idea of the futuristic city — with its multilayered skyways, domestic robots and flying cars — seems doomed to the realm of nostalgia, the sadly comic promise of a future that failed to materialise.

Shanghai Future maps the city of tomorrow as it resurfaces in a new time and place. It searches for the contours of an unknown and unfamiliar futurism in the city’s street markets as well as in its skyscrapers. For though it recalls the modernity of an earlier age, Shanghai’s current re-emergence is only superficially based on mimicry. Rather, in seeking to fulfill its ambitions, the giant metropolis is reinventing the very idea of the future itself. As it modernises, Shanghai is necessarily recreating what it is to be modern.

Anna Greenspan is a Shanghai-based philosopher who focuses on urbanism and digital culture. She teaches at New York University in Shanghai.

 

Jacqueline Nivard

Jacqueline Nivard, Centre d'études sur la Chine moderne et contemporaine

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The many forms of water security in China

Darrin Magee, The many forms of water security in China, China Policy Institute Blog, November 4, 2014.

By some measures, China is not a water-scarce country. Per capita water resources stood at just over 2,000 cubic meters in 2013 according to the National Bureau of Statistics, with overall water availability at nearly 2.8 trillion cubic meters. Yet these figures tell only part of the story. China’s seemingly sufficient water resources are severely polluted, unevenly distributed in space and time, inefficiently utilized, and increasingly diverted away from agriculture toward higher-value-added uses. Moreover, as the Chinese government moves forward on a path toward less reliance on carbon-based energy sources and greater use of non-hydro renewables like solar and wind, hydropower will almost certainly gain importance as a dispatchable electricity generation source that can balance the intermittent nature of solar and wind. Some of that hydropower will be developed on transboundary rivers in China’s southwest, further raising tensions with downstream neighbors already wary of China’s intentions.

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Jacqueline Nivard

Jacqueline Nivard, Centre d'études sur la Chine moderne et contemporaine

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The greening of Asia

Mark L. Clifford,  The greening of Asia: The business case for solving Asia’s environmental emergency, Columbia University, 2015. 320 p.

One of Asia’s best-respected writers on business and economy, Hong Kong-based author Mark L. Clifford provides a behind-the-scenes look at what companies in China, India, Japan, Korea, the Philippines, South Korea, Singapore, and Thailand are doing to build businesses that will lessen the environmental impact of Asia’s extraordinary economic growth. Dirty air, foul water, and hellishly overcrowded cities are threatening to choke the region’s impressive prosperity. Recognizing a business opportunity in solving social problems, Asian businesses have developed innovative responses to the region’s environmental crises.

From solar and wind power technologies to green buildings, electric cars, water services, and sustainable tropical forestry, Asian corporations are upending old business models in their home countries and throughout the world. Companies have the money, the technology, and the people to act–yet, as Clifford emphasizes, support from the government (in the form of more effective, market-friendly policies) and the engagement of civil society are crucial for a region-wide shift to greener business practices. Clifford paints detailed profiles of what some of these companies are doing and includes a unique appendix that encapsulates the environmental business practices of more than fifty companies mentioned in the book.

The Greening of Asia from ChinaFile on Vimeo.

 

Excerpts on ChinaFile

Jacqueline Nivard

Jacqueline Nivard, Centre d'études sur la Chine moderne et contemporaine

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“NIMBY in China: From the perspective of environmental movement

Centre franco-chinois – 中法研究中心
 
The Sino-French research center of the University of Tsinghua is pleased to invite you to the following conference (in Chinese) of

Pr. Ran Ran

Assistant Professor of Political Science 
School of International Studies
Renmin University of China
“NIMBY in China: From the Perspective of Environmental Movement “Friday, March 6th 2015, from 2PM to 4PM
Tsinghua University, Mingzhai Building, room 337Please confirm your attendance by mail to: contact@beijing-cfc.org

清华大学社会科学学院中法研究中心荣幸地
邀请您前来参加下面讲座:
冉冉讲师
中国人民大学国际关系学院政治学系
 
“环境运动视角下的“邻避事件”
2015年3月6日(星期五)
下午两点到四点
清华大学,清华园
明斋楼,337室
请发邮件确实参加: contact@beijing-cfc.org

Jacqueline Nivard

Jacqueline Nivard, Centre d'études sur la Chine moderne et contemporaine

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Conserving historic urban landscape for the future generation

Chao-Ching Fu (2016), Conserving Historic Urban Landscape for the Future Generation – Beyond Old Streets Preservation and Cultural Districts Conservation in Taiwan, International Journal of Social Science and Humanity, Vol. 6, No. 5, May 2016. DOI: 10.7763/IJSSH.2016.V6.676

On 10 November 2011 UNESCO’s General Conference adopted the new Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape by acclamation, the first such instrument on the historic environment issued by UNESCO in 35 years. This paper will first review the preservation of “old streets” and the conservation of “cultural districts” in Taiwan. Then, the paper will discuss how the concept of “historic urban landscape” could be transformed into an approach or a tool for conserving historic cities and towns in Taiwan.

http://www.ijssh.org/vol6/676-CH399.pdf

Jacqueline Nivard

Jacqueline Nivard, Centre d'études sur la Chine moderne et contemporaine

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Do negative native – Place stereotypes lead to discriminatory wage penalties in China’s Migrant Labor Markets?

Do negative native – Place stereotypes lead to discriminatory wage penalties in China’s Migrant Labor Markets? Wage penalties in China’s migrant labor markets? IZA Discussion Paper No.8842 February 2015

China’s linguistic and geographic diversity leads many Chinese individuals to identify themselves and others not simply as Chinese, but rather by their native place and provincial origin. Negative personality traits are often attributed to people from specific areas. People from Henan, in particular, appear to be singled out as possessing a host of negative traits.
Such prejudice does not necessarily lead to wage discrimination. Whether or not it does depends on the nature of the local labor markets. This chapter uses data from the 2008 and 2009 migrant surveys of the Rural-Urban Migration in China Project (RUMiC) to explorewhether native-place wage discrimination affects migrant workers in China’s urban labormarkets. We analyze the question of wage discrimination among migrants by estimatingwage equations for men andwomen, controlling for human capital characteristics, province oforigin, and destination city. Of key interest here are the variables representing provinces oforigin. We find no systemic differences by province of origin in the hourly wages of male andfemale migrants. However, in a few specific cases, we find that migrants from a particularprovince earn significantly less than those from local areas. Male migrants from Henan inShanghai are paid much less than their fellow migrants from Anhui. In the Jiangsu cities ofNanjing and  Jiangsu migrants.

Jacqueline Nivard

Jacqueline Nivard, Centre d'études sur la Chine moderne et contemporaine

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Eats on the street

It doesn’t matter how many times you tell the cook not to add hot peppers, anything you order in Chongqing is going to be mouth-numbing and hotter than anything you’ve ever tasted before. It will be good, but it will be hot. From hotpot joints and street-corner barbecues to cold noodles served out of buckets dangling from a bamboo pole, Chongqing’s street vendors operate late into the night. You’ll be lucky to get a table at the restaurants on Tiyu Road, an area in Chongqing’s central Yuzhong district and ground zero for the city’s street food scene. But just about every little road throughout the city has a few cooks that set up shop on the street. In the morning, you can find savory fried dough, rice porridge, and pots of steaming hot “flower” tofu, ready to be garnished with an assortment of beans, nuts, herbs, and, of course, fiery peppers.
Read more and see more photos on ChinaFile

Jacqueline Nivard

Jacqueline Nivard, Centre d'études sur la Chine moderne et contemporaine

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Strict crowd limits set for Beijing Lunar New Year celebrations in wake of Shanghai crush

Beijing authorities have set precise mathematical limits on allowable crowd densities for events during the Lunar New Year holiday after the government ordered increased safety precautions across the country in the wake of the deadly New Year’s Eve stampede in Shanghai.

Read more on The South China Morning Post 2015-02-12

Jacqueline Nivard

Jacqueline Nivard, Centre d'études sur la Chine moderne et contemporaine

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CEFC short-term fieldwork grant for doctoral research on contemporary China

The French Centre for Research on Contemporary China (CEFC) is offering three fieldwork grants for doctoral students, ranging from one to three months, to be carried out between May and December 2015 in China, Hong Kong or Taiwan. The grant comprises a monthly stipend of 1,200 € as well as a round-trip air ticket between Europe and China, Hong Kong or Taiwan, within the limit of 1,000 €.
http://www.cefc.com.hk/research/jobs-scholarships/short-term-fieldwork-grant-for-doctoral-research-on-contemporary-china/

Jacqueline Nivard

Jacqueline Nivard, Centre d'études sur la Chine moderne et contemporaine

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Beijing life in a shipping container

Shi Jian, Beijing life in a shipping container, China Dialogue, 27.01.2015 .https://www.chinadialogue.net/

On the outskirts of Beijing, a gardener has built a home out of shipping containers in the hope of creating a green community in the polluted city

 

Main_2
In the summer of 2014 Niu Jian and his family moved from the bustling Beijing district of Haidian to the village of Niuhe in Shunyi, on the outskirts of the capital. Their new home consists of a single-storey arrangement of six 20-foot shipping containers. A 600 watt solar panel hangs on one wall and 300 watt wind turbine spins on the roof.
 

Niu had the containers made to order, with doors and windows, a power supply and insulation. The 150 square metre-space cost him about 300,000 yuan to have built and fitted out and he describes this as a laboratory for sustainable living. Asked why he wanted to spend so much money for a tougher life on the outskirts of Beijing, Niu explains that he wants to spread the idea of a ‘shared community’ – people who want to find a more sustainable life in the smog ridden city.

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Jacqueline Nivard

Jacqueline Nivard, Centre d'études sur la Chine moderne et contemporaine

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Asia and Europe in a Global Context

The Graduate Programme for Transcultural Studies of the Cluster of Excellence “Asia and Europe in a Global Context” welcomes applications for up to four doctoral scholarships. Applicants should submit their papers until March 15, 2015.

The Graduate Programme offers a monthly scholarship of 1200 Euro. Future scholarship holders will be supported in framing their research through advanced courses, individual supervision, and mentoring. Half of the scholarships are reserved for young scholars from Asia.

The Graduate Programme for Transcultural Studies is the structured doctoral programme of the Cluster of Excellence “Asia and Europe in a Global Context” at Heidelberg University. In line with the Cluster’s research profile, the programme focuses on the dynamics of cultural exchange processes between and within Asia and Europe.

Applicants must hold an M.A. or equivalent in a discipline of the humanities or social sciences with an above-average grade, and must propose a research project with a strong affiliation to the research framework of the Cluster. Applications are accepted until March 15, 2015, exclusively via our Online Application System.

For further information on the scholarships, visit the website of the Graduate Programme for Transcultural Studies, or send an e-mail to application-gpts@asia-europe.uni-heidelberg.de.

Jacqueline Nivard

Jacqueline Nivard, Centre d'études sur la Chine moderne et contemporaine

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Cultural heritage in China: contested understandings, images and practices

The conference is open to scholars who study the multifaceted and complex understandings and uses of cultural heritage and its everyday manifestations in contemporary China.

Conference at Lund University 17-18 June, 2015

In an increasingly diverse Chinese society there is today a multitude of actors that celebrate diverse identities, representations of the past and heritage sites. These actors include local governments, cultural heritage bureaus, tourism companies, the media, scholars, and different civil society groups and local communities. The official cultural heritage discourse is today contested through alternative understandings, although the different actors have different cultural, political and economic capital to make their voices heard and shape heritage policy, management and use. Local communities for example often celebrate local cultural and religious identities and traditions at heritage sites, or at sites not always recognized as such by the state. Negotiations and conflicts over the meaning and management of heritage sites and place-making occur in the interface of an authoritarian state, market forces, and globalization, where the Internet, social media, and film, play important roles in shaping and mediating the debates, images and celebrations.

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Jacqueline Nivard

Jacqueline Nivard, Centre d'études sur la Chine moderne et contemporaine

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“(un)civil society” and “Chinese internet or internet in China?”

The University of Alberta’s China Institute invites paper proposals for the 13th annual Chinese Internet Research Conference (CIRC) to be held in Edmonton, Canada on May 27-28, 2015. While following the CIRC tradition of welcoming a wide range of general submissions, this year’s conference will highlight the themes of “(un)civil society” and “Chinese internet or internet in China?”

(Un)civil Society

To date, much research on the Chinese Internet has focused on internet censorship as well as state-society confrontations. While these issues continue to hold importance, a new generation of research could help to unpack the multilayered and multidimensional reality and contradictions of the Chinese Internet. As the population of Chinese netizens has surpassed 600 million, not only has the Chinese internet become a contentious medium for the state and an emergent civil society, it has also given voice to controversial exchanges between various social groupings along ideological, class, ethnic, racial and regional fault lines. Some examples include the internet flame war between Han Han and Fang Zhouzi that defamed “public intellectuals” in China, the Left-Right debate amongst China’s intellectual communities that occasionally spill over into street brawls, online breach of privacy (e.g. certain instances of “human flesh search engine”), conflict between “haves” and “have-nots,” contention between Han and ethnic minorities in Tibet and Xinjiang, racial discourse on mixed-race Chinese and immigrants, and debate over the “sunflower movement” in Taiwan and the “umbrella movement” in Hong Kong. Papers on this theme will shed light on uncivil exchanges online that fail to produce consensus or solutions and the social/cultural/political schisms that complicate the promise of constructive citizen engagement and civil society in China. Conversely, papers that illustrate, analyze and reflect on overcoming incivility online, without curtailing citizens’ rights to speech, security and safety are also welcome.

Chinese Internet or Internet in China?

Papers on this theme could consider the extent to which internet applications and user patterns in China are unique or simply representative of global trends, with local variations in terms of technology use and the associated cultural meanings. They might also address the growing popularity of Chinese internet applications among users abroad. Put differently, how “unique” and how “Chinese” is the “Chinese internet?” Should we be talking about a “Chinese internet” or the “internet in China?” Comparative perspectives as well as the development of fresh theoretical angles are encouraged.

Papers may be submitted outside these two themes. Researchers are invited to submit proposals on any aspect of the development, use, and impact of the internet in China. Topics may include the economic, political, cultural, and social dimensions of internet use in China, may focus on interpersonal, organizational, international, or inter-cultural dimensions; and may explore theoretical, empirical, or policy-related implications.

Possible topics may include, but are not limited to:

  • Internet business, entertainment, and gaming
  • Research methods, web metrics, “big data” analysis, and network analysis
  • The digital divide along class, gender and rural-urban lines
  • The globalization of such Chinese internet firms as Baidu, WeChat, and Alibaba
  • Cultural activities or cultural tensions expressed through such popular mediums as microblogs (weibo), and WeChat (weixin)

The China Institute will sponsor participants’ meals during the conference dates, but is unable to cover travel costs. A limited number of university accommodations are available at reduced rates on first-come-first-served basis. There is no registration fee for this conference. As in past years, top single-authored papers by graduate students will receive awards. Participants are also invited to join in a three-day, self-paid trip to the Canadian Rockies after the conference. Please submit paper proposals of no more than 400 words in length with the subject line of “CIRC proposal” by February 15, 2015 to esarey@ualberta.ca. Acceptance notices and panel information will be released in March 2015.

More information

Jacqueline Nivard

Jacqueline Nivard, Centre d'études sur la Chine moderne et contemporaine

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Food, feeding and eating in and out of Asia

 7th Annual International ADI Conference

Place

Asian Dynamics Initiative, University of Copenhagen

Date

24-26 June 2015  

Call for Papers

Food, feeding and eating activities are as old as life itself, but recently there has been a heightened interest in such issues within policy-making, international relations, and academic scholarship ranging from the bio-medical, philosophical, historical, and political to the social, cultural, economic, and religious. Food is both global and local: while foods, cuisines, recipes, people, and culinary cosmopolitanisms have been in global circuits of flows and circulations through various periods of history, the smells, sights, sounds, textures, and tastes of local foodscapes may evoke memories of ‘home’ and imaginations of travel alike. Moreover, with increasing numbers of people concentrated in large cities and urban agglomerations, the challenges of feeding people are becoming ever more complex. Against the backdrop of globalisation of Asia and Asian foods, this conference focuses on the wide-ranging aspects of production, consumption, distribution, disposal, and circulation of foods in and out of Asia. Read moreWe invite abstract proposals for paper presentations addressing the conference theme, but especially welcome perspectives relating to one or more of the panels listed below.

Panels

http://asiandynamics.ku.dk/english/adi_food_2015/

Jacqueline Nivard

Jacqueline Nivard, Centre d'études sur la Chine moderne et contemporaine

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Smog journey

Film by Jia Zhangke

(…) Released on Thursday, the film follows the lives of two Chinese families — one a mining family in rural Hebei Province, and the other a cosmopolitan family in hyper-urban Beijing. The film is intended to show that every Chinese citizen, regardless of socioeconomic status or geography, is affected by dirty air.

“I wanted to make a film that enlightens people, not frightens them,” Mr. Jia said in a news release. “The issue of smog is something that all the citizens of the country need to face, understand and solve in the upcoming few years.”

Source: Film Highlights Air Pollution’s Broad Reach By Amy Qin, January 22, 2015. Read more on Sinosphere

Jacqueline Nivard

Jacqueline Nivard, Centre d'études sur la Chine moderne et contemporaine

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