Transnational queer sociological analysis of sexual identity and civic‐political activism in Hong Kong,Taiwan and mainland China

The sociology of homosexuality lacks engagement with queer theory and postcolonialism and focuses primarily on the global metropoles, thus failing to provide a plausible account of non‐Western non‐normative sexual identities. This research adopts the author’s newly proposed transnational queer sociology to address these deficiencies. First, it critiques the Western model of sexual identity predominantly employed to elucidate non‐Western, non‐normative sexualities. It does so by examining not only the queer flows between West and non‐West but also those among and within non‐Western contexts to produce translocally shared and mutually referenced experiences. Second, the proposed approach combines sociology with queer theory by emphasizing the significant role of material, as well as discursive, analyses in shaping queer identities, desires and practices. This article employs the approach to examine young gay male identities, as revealed in 90 in‐depth interviews conducted in Hong Kong (n = 30), Taiwan (Taipei, n = 30) and mainland China (Shanghai, n = 30) between 2017 and 2019. More specifically, it highlights the interplay between the state and identity by investigating the intersection and intertwining effects of these young men’s sexual and cultural/national identities, revealing three different forms of civic‐political activism. The article both demonstrates the way in which sexuality and the state are mutually constituted and provides nuanced analysis of the heterogeneity of contemporary homosexualities in Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland China. In applying a new sociological approach to understanding sexuality, this research joins the growing body of scholarship within sociology that is decentring the Western formation of universal knowledge.     

Expediting youth's entry into employment whilst overlooking precariousness: Flexi‐employability and disciplinary activation in Hong Kong

With an emphasis placed on supply‐side interventions such as skills training and incentives enhancement, active labor market polices (ALMPs) are strongly promoted by international organizations and widely adopted across different welfare regimes to boost employment rates. This article first presents the under‐examined relationship between ALMPs and employment precariousness, which has posed a challenge to the neoliberal notion of employability and activation. Youth‐focused employment policies tend to speed up employment entry whilst downplaying the risk of precariousness and the importance of job quality, and thus further reinforcing the belief that engaging in precarious employment is tolerable if not inevitable. The article then examines the case of Hong Kong, which illustrates that its relatively low rate of youth unemployment may conceal the unfavorable employment conditions confronted by youth. It is argued that the service‐led employment policies and short‐term vocational training define the employability of young workers in terms of labor flexibilities. The coined phase of “flexi‐employability” is characterized by promoting youth's readiness for, and adaptability to, the volatilities and changing demands of the labor market. Arguably, the disciplinary approach to youth activation would only strengthen the work‐first principle by enforcing young people to take up jobs available and leave welfare as soon as possible, but without thoroughly addressing the risks and insecurities generated by the labor market in undermining their well‐being.     

Anti-hierarchical activism in Hong Kong: the post-80s youth

In 2009, a political youth movement known as the Post-80s emerged in Hong Kong to protest against the construction of a high-speed railway. While local academics and government officials framed the motivations of these youth protesters using economic rationales, I argue here that the Post-80s are better understood as conveying their dissatisfaction towards existing political structures in the city. This profile sets out Post-80s criticisms of the entrenched hierarchical dynamics in Hong Kong political culture that has shaped interactions between the government, political parties and the wider population, and discusses how the Post-80s have responded to the representational imbalances imposed by these hierarchical practices in the local political sphere by advocating for a way of doing politics where individual voices (as opposed to the collective) are emphasized, and where horizontal structures are used. I conclude by exploring the repercussions of this critique on recent political discourses and protests observed in Hong Kong.     

Hesitant Madams in a Global City: Japanese Expat Wives and their Global Householding in Hong Kong

Care work, once a sanctioned labor of love, is increasingly commodified in transnational contexts. The picture of migrant women shouldering the housework and child care of local professonal women may seem like a mutually beneficial arrangement—matching the “needs” of the haves and have-nots—, but the global care chain ultimately works to maintain the traditional gendered division of labor as well as global inequality. To this trend of globalization of care work, Japan has been an exception; however, how much longer it will be so is now in a question, as the government paves the way for importing domestic labor from abroad. This article focuses on Japanese expat wives in Hong Kong in order to locate Japanese women vis-à-vis the global care chain. The narrative analysis on how they decide whether to hire a domestic worker in their home away from home highlights the sociopolitical nature of their supposedly private choices. Some drew on cultural ideal of wifehood and motherhood to rationalize their choice while others referred to racialized or even overtly racist and classist images of foreign domestic workers. A few women spoke against the system itself, showing awareness of its inherent social injustice. All such narratives are never purely personal; their decisions and the rationalization behind them sustain the prevailing discourses of gender, race, ethnicity, culture, and class, which, in turn, envelop their attempts at global householding.     

近代广东商业人群在广西的分布面及其梯度差考详——粤港商业经济对广西经济辐射研究之二

文章从中国近代史上城镇经济主体——商业经济的角度切入,运用各类历史资料,分区逐县地确证广东商业人群以及所造成的“无东不成市”格局在全广西的分布范围,并揭示其在广西不同地域的程度等差和梯度分布状态。从而,以原始的生活场景原生态地呈现出粤港澳地区对广西经济辐射由东而西逐步推进、由城市而圩市逐层次渗透的基本节奏和客观规律。     

一篇有价值的合肥地方史文献——唐代陈鸿《庐州同食馆记》笺说

陈鸿是中唐时期一位具有进步思想的士大夫和作家。其《庐州同食馆记》是一篇颇有价值的合肥地方史文献。首先,它提供了一组合肥的地方史知识,如唐朝时合肥的城池、庐州的“郡道”以及“郡米”的漕运情况,尤其是关于“同食馆”的记载非常珍贵;其次,它反映了中唐社会藩镇跋扈、作乱及其对合肥的重大影响。     

试论洪大容的实学思想

朝鲜李朝后期的“北学派”肇始于洪大容,他的实学思想具有开创意义,尤其在宇宙自然观方面,为“北学派”实学奠定了宇宙自然观、世界观的基础。他的“实心实学”也受到当代韩、日两国实学界的关注。在“北学派”实学家中,洪大容最先到了中国,考察了京、热、冀、辽的经济、政治、文化、社会民情、风土文物,最早提出了北学中国的主张,因此,具有重要的文化史意义和开风气的作用。     

基于协高阶矩视角的沪港股市风险传染分析

金融风险传染(financial risk contagion)不仅是资产配置和套期保值决策中应该考虑的一个重要因素,而且直接关系着一国乃至全球金融体系的安全与稳定.运用协高阶矩(协偏度、协波动率、协峰度等)风险传染判定方法,实证检验了沪港通实施前后上海和香港两地股票市场间的风险传染状况.研究结果表明,沪港通政策实施后,上海股市向香港股市的第一类协偏度(均值→波动率)、协波动率、经调整的相关系数、协峰度等的风险传染统计量值依次变大,同样依据风险传染统计量值的大小,香港股市对上海股市的风险传染途径依次为协四阶矩(协波动率、协峰度)、第一类协偏度和经调整的相关系数,协高阶矩成为沪港股市间双向风险传染的主要途径;因资本净流动数额和投资者教育等因素,上海股市对香港市场的风险传染效应更强.     

梦窗词清空论——试谈郑文焯对梦窗词风的认识

郑文焯是晚清四大家之一,著名词学家。在晚清梦窗词转移一代风会的情况下,他的梦窗词研究独具特色。他不满以"晦涩"评梦窗,也不满学梦窗"晦涩",他认为"晦涩"只是梦窗词的表象,其高处正在"空灵"。郑文焯以"空灵"、"清空"为标准来选评梦窗词,突破了张炎以来的对梦窗词的传统认识,赋予了"七宝楼台"新的内涵。他的这种认识,也体现了"清空"这一重要词学范畴的内涵在晚清的丰富与发展。     

Conflict or consensus: An investigation of stakeholder concerns during the participation process of major infrastructure and construction projects in Hong Kong

Public participation in the planning and design of major public infrastructure and construction (PIC) projects is crucial to their success, as the interests of different stakeholders can be systematically captured and built into the finalised scheme. However, public participation may not always yield a mutually acceptable solution, especially when the interests of stakeholders are diverse and conflicting. Confrontations and disputes can arise unless the concerns or needs of the community are carefully analysed and addressed. The aim of the paper is to propose a systematic method of analysing stakeholder concerns relating to PIC projects by examining the degree of consensus and/or conflict involved. The results of a questionnaire survey and a series of interviews with different entities are provided, which indicate the existence of a significant divergence of views among stakeholder groups and that conflicts arise when there is a mismatch between peoples’ perception concerning money and happiness on the one hand and development and damages on the other. Policy and decision-makers should strive to resolve at least the majority of conflicts that arise throughout the lifecycle of major PIC projects so as to maximise their chance of success.