Patriarchal capitalism with Chinese characteristics: gendered discourse of ‘Double Eleven’ shopping festival

In this article we consider the Double Eleven shopping festival as a major discursive site where the hegemony of what we call patriarchal capitalism with Chinese characteristics is articulated. The state, the market, the corporations and the media, both mainstream and social media, all played an important role in building up a national spending spree that is deeply embedded in the current class and gender structure of China. The phenomenon of Double Eleven emerged at a time when state capitalism has been overwriting socialist institutions, while patriarchal ideology being further intensified through consumerism. As a consequence, the intersectionality of class and gender becomes increasingly manifest in the Chinese society. We start with a brief overview of the trajectory of gender politics in China since 1949, with specific focus on how the socialist project of seeking gender equality was gradually replaced by the quest for ‘womanhood’ and ‘femininity’. We then discuss, using both secondary sources and our own analysis of news coverage of Double Eleven, why maintaining a high level of consumer demand is of crucial importance for the Chinese state and what the state’s role has been in configuring the hegemonic gender order. A brief section on ideology and discourse lays out the conceptual framework of our analysis. It is at the intersection of a dissipating socialist ethos, emerging economic stagnation and ascending consumerism that the sexist discourse in relation to Double Eleven proliferates, and this is the analytical focus of our empirical section. We elaborate on the theoretical implications of the empirical analysis before concluding.     

Trends in bird species richness,abundance and biomass along a tropical urbanization gradient

Impacts of urbanization on biodiversity are commonly studied using urbanization gradients which provide a space-for-time substitution in estimating consequences of urban expansion. Rates of urbanization and human population growth are high in tropical countries of the developing world, which also hold most of the world’s biodiversity hot-spots, yet few studies have considered biodiversity trends along urban gradients in these regions. Bird communities across a gradient of nine sites in Uganda, from the city centre of Kampala to outlying rural locations, were studied over a six year period. These sites were ordered along an urbanization gradient using Principle Components Analysis based on habitat variables estimated at each site. Bird species richness showed a decrease from rural to urban sites, a trend especially evident in forest birds. There was no clear pattern in total abundance, total biomass or biomass per individual along the gradient. However, this latter result was heavily influenced by a colony of Marabou Storks at one site. When this species was omitted, there was evidence of a positive trend with urbanization, showing that as species richness decreased, the bird community was increasingly dominated by larger species with increasing urbanization, which were mainly scavengers able to exploit human refuse. These results provide further support for the negative impacts of urbanization on species richness, but also demonstrate trends in abundance and biomass are variable across different regions. In particular, the increasing dominance of larger species in urban areas may be relevant to certain geographic and/or socioeconomic contexts.     

Difference-based matrix perturbation method for semi-parametric regression with multicollinearity

This paper addresses the collinearity problems in semi-parametric linear models. Under the difference-based settings, we introduce a new diagnostic, the difference-based variance inflation factor (DVIF), for detecting the presence of multicollinearity in semi-parametric models. The DVIF is then used to device a difference-based matrix perturbation method for solving the problem. The electricities distribution data set is analyzed, and numerical evidences validate the effectiveness of the proposed method.     

The Methuselah Effect: The Pernicious Impact of Unreported Deaths on Old-Age Mortality Estimates

We examine inferences about old-age mortality that arise when researchers use survey data matched to death records. We show that even small rates of failure to match respondents can lead to substantial bias in the measurement of mortality rates at older ages. This type of measurement error is consequential for three strands in the demographic literature: (1) the deceleration in mortality rates at old ages; (2) the black-white mortality crossover; and (3) the relatively low rate of old-age mortality among Hispanics, often called the “Hispanic paradox.” Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Older Men matched to death records in both the U.S. Vital Statistics system and the Social Security Death Index, we demonstrate that even small rates of missing mortality matching plausibly lead to an appearance of mortality deceleration when none exists and can generate a spurious black-white mortality crossover. We confirm these findings using data from the National Health Interview Survey matched to the U.S. Vital Statistics system, a data set known as the “gold standard” (Cowper et al. 2002) for estimating age-specific mortality. Moreover, with these data, we show that the Hispanic paradox is also plausibly explained by a similar undercount.     

Women’s attitudes towards the medicalization of childbirth and their associations with planned and actual modes of birth

Problem

Rates of medical interventions in childbirth have greatly increased in the Western world.

Impact of metabolic syndrome and its components on kidney stone in aging Taiwanese males

Objectives: Metabolic syndrome (MtS) and kidney stone are two common aging diseases with male dominant. This is the first study regarding the potential impact of MtS and its components on kidney stone in aging Chinese population.

Methods: A total of 694 males with a mean age of 55.6 years were enrolled. The definition of MtS was according to the modified criteria developed by the Bureau of Health Promotion in Taiwan. Subjects were classified as having a disease of kidney stones according to diagnosis by a physician with available medical records or evidence from ultrasonography judged by an investigator of urologist.

Results: Using age-adjusted multivariate logistic regression analysis, our results showed that subjects with kidney stone had significantly higher prevalence of MtS (p?=?0.04, OR?=?1.74, 95% CI: 1.0 1–3.00). The presence of MtS had significant correlation with kidney stone (p?=?0.01, OR?=?1.83, 95% CI: 1.1 4–2.93), which were associated with the increment of MtS components (p?p?Conclusions: In aging Taiwanese males, the presence of MtS and its components are strongly associated with kidney stone. Abnormal BP is the most significant risk component of MtS for kidney stone.     

Discrimination and incorporation of Taiwanese indigenous Austronesian peoples

This paper examines contemporary developments among Taiwan’s indigenous Austronesian peoples. We have reviewed major policy changes mainly since the 1980s and their impacts on later developments – both the positive improvements in general well-being and the persistence of ingrained problems among them. Major findings indicate two growing trends among Taiwanese Austronesians. One is the rise of interest in their cultures and efforts to preserve and restore selected indigenous customs and practices. The other trend is a continuous outflow of the indigenes from traditional tribal communities to urban centers for better employment, education, or health care. Their increasing urbanization also contributes to more inter-ethnic marriages and the loss of indigenous languages and practices. The case of Taiwanese Austronesians illustrates the impacts historical and politico-economic processes are having on indigenous peoples.     

中国家庭教育的奠基与现代意义——陈鹤琴《家庭教育》的学术旨趣及其现代价值

作为“五四”新文化和新教育运动的产物,陈鹤琴《家庭教育》是其多年来对幼儿特别其长子陈一鸣的精心观察、实验和研究之所得,反映了当时社会剧烈变革中家庭教育的实际问题,并提出了相应的原则、对策和建议,内藏着十分深刻的教育哲理,对于我们理性地探寻全球化背景下当代中国家庭教育的奥秘仍具有重要的参考价值和借鉴意义。