Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Dead Man Talking, Zhang Lijia

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

On July 1 this year, a masked man named Yang Jia forced his way into the Zhabei police bureau in Shanghai, armed with a knife. In a killing rampage, he left six policemen dead and four injured. Last Wednesday, the 28-year-old unemployed man from Beijing was executed by lethal injection after the Supreme People’s Court decided to uphold the death sentence.

There was little surprise for the fate of a cop-murderer in a country where more people are thought to be killed by the capital punishment than the rest of the world combined. Yet the accused seems to have become …

Global Shanghai News

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Regular readers of this blog may think it is a bit redundant for me to do a “Self-promotion Saturday” post about Global Shanghai, 1850-2010: A History in Fragments, since I’ve managed to slip references to and images of the cover of my new book onto the site already in recent a piece about the 1980s and one about the Beijing Forum, cell phones, and a Chinese Obama joke.

Still, when you’ve worked on a publication as long as I labored on this one (even though it is a short, it took well over a decade to get from first inspiration …

Epicurean China: A Book Report, Kate Merkel-Hess

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Browsing the new book shelf of the local public library this week, I noticed not one but a whole selection of books that delve into the regional cuisines of China. Just last summer, Nina and Tim Zagat wrote an op-ed for The New York Times titled, “Eating Beyond Sichuan,” in which they called for greater diversity in the Chinese cuisine dished up around the U.S.—something more akin to the taste bud thrills anyone visiting or living in China experiences on a daily basis. There are intimations of Chinese cuisine diversity to come—such as the much-hailed developments in areas populated by …

Library And Information Support For New Partnership For Africa 'S Development (Nepad), Christopher Nkiko, Felicia O. Yusuf

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) was created in October 2001 as an way of helping Africa extricate itself from the malaise of underdevelopment and exclusion in a globalizing world. Its major objectives include: eradication of poverty, promotion of accelerated growth and sustainable development, halting the marginalization of Africa in the globalizing process, and the empowerment of women. The paper examines preconditions for its success and the specific roles expected of libraries and information centres. Such roles include; popularizing the initiative, providing continental information database, human development, eradication of diseases and poverty through information, information brokerage and environmental scanning, partnering …

Importance Of Information And Communication Technologies (Icts) In Making A Heathy Information Society: A Case Study Of Ethiope East Local Government Area Of Delta State, Nigeria, Monday Obaidjevwe Ogbomo, Esoswo Francisca Ogbomo

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

ICTs are crucially important for sustainable development in developing countries. For the past two decades, most developed countries have witnessed significant changes that can be traced to ICTs. These changes have been observed in economics, education, communication, and travel. Many initiatives have been taken at the international level to support Africa's efforts to develop a communication infrastructure and. This study uses a survey that employed a two-part questionnaire that collected data on the personal characteristics of the respondents and their use of ICTs. A sample of 120 respondents was used. The respondents were drawn from the Ethiope East local government …

Early Critics Of Deng Xiaoping—A 1978 Flashback, Jeff Wasserstrom

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Americans associate bottom-up challenges to Deng Xiaoping with images of the massive 1989 protests. But those demonstrations were not the first acts of dissent Deng had to deal with by any means. More than a decade earlier, right after his Reform era began, came the “Democracy Wall Movement”—named for a Beijing area where critics started putting up posters (some of which warned of Deng becoming a dictator) in 1978. The term “democracy wall” had been used for comparable spaces back in the 1940s (when Chiang Kai-shek’s authoritarianism was being attacked) and again during 1957’s “Hundred Flowers” campaign. The 1957 precedent …

Whose Peoples’ Games?, James Leibold

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

With the self-professed slogans of the Green Olympics, High-tech Olympics and the People’s Olympics, the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG) should have anticipated criticism. It left nothing to chance in hosting the world’s athletes and spectators—gleaming stadia, smiling faces and blue skies: all as ordered. But as many Western observers noted, BOCOG forgot to invite the Chinese people—with security guards, CCTV cameras and robot-like volunteers ensuring little spontaneity or popular emotion at the so-called People’s Games.

In the wake of the unprecedented media coverage of China’s global “coming out party,” few have paused to consider who and …

Cow Size, Perhaps More Than Just A Production Efficiency Decision, Matthew Stockton, Dillion Feuz, Roger K. Wilson

Cornhusker Economics

In Cattle Today, an online beef producer’s magazine, a February 7, 2008 article titled “Preconditioned Calves Give Premium At Market” contained this statement, "We're weaning calves bigger and younger than we ever have. Many calves now weigh 600 to 700 pounds at weaning, whereas 20 or 30 years ago a yearling would weigh 600 to 700 pounds.” (http://www.cattletoday.com/archive/2008/February/CT1 411.shtml).

If you asked experts in the beef industry, you would probably get many different answers as to why calf size has increased. Some of the factors that probably have had an influence in increasing size include a better understanding of …

A Soulful Memoir Of 1980s China

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

I think that no matter when I read it, I would have been impressed by Lijia Zhang’s“Socialism is Great!” A Worker’s Memoir of the New China. There is simply a lot to like about any book that is well crafted, unsparingly honest, and alternately poignant and amusing. And these adjectives all apply to Zhang’s tale.

One sign of the care the author takes is that she neatly bookends the part of her life story she gives up with a pair of very different sorts of acts of rebellion. Readers first meet the narrator as she chafes at the idea of …

Zhao Ziyang’S Legacy And 6/4 Memories

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

As we prepare to mark the 30th anniversary of one turning point in the history of Chinese dissent (the appearance of Wei Jingsheng’s “Fifth Modernization” poster on December 5, 1978, the subject of a post we’ll run later this week), a debate on another major turning point (the 1989 protests and June 4th Massacre) may be re-emerging within China ahead of its 30th anniversary. One of the earliest reports (in English) that the Ministry of Culture had sought the resignation of the editor of the well-regarded magazine Yanhuang Chunqiu over its recent cover story praising purged leader Zhao Ziyang was …

Representative Juries: Examining The Initial And Eligible Pools Of Jurors

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

State law provides that master jury lists are comprised by combining the lists of registered voters and registered drivers in the state of Nebraska. There have been anecdotal concerns that because minorities may be less likely to be registered to vote and less likely to be registered to drive, the current source lists may not effectively achieve a representative master list. The findings of this examination support this assertion. Based on an examination of juror qualification forms from 8 of Nebraska’s most diverse counties, data indicate that there are significant racial disparities in the initial and eligible pools of jurors. …

“It’S A Choice, Simple As That”: Youth Reasoning For Sexual Abstinence Or Activity, Rochelle L. Dalla

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

This investigation was designed to fill gaps in the extant literature by examining reasons give by youth for refraining from or engaging in sexual intercourse, in addition to their perceptions regarding the advantages and disadvantages of premarital intercourse. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected from 103 graduating seniors; 60 self-identified as sexually abstinent and 43 as sexually active. Survey indices were used to assess parent-youth relationships, and parent and peer attitudes toward premarital sex, religiosity, and dating patterns; open-ended questions were used to assess reasons for either engaging in or refraining from sexual intercourse, and to identify benefits and problems …

Catch That Pepsi Spirit: Photo Update

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

When Micki McCoy and Kelly Hammond sent China Beat the interview they conducted about Hammond’s participation in an international Pepsi commercial shoot in Xinjiang, we had a tough time tracking down images or videos. Though we still haven’t seen the commercial in full (let us know if you find it online), Hammond did recently send this photo of a “Mexican Uyghur” taken during filming. If that doesn’t make any sense to you, take a look at the original interview‘s discussion of the issues of nationalism, ethnicity, and commercialism that the Pepsi shoot raised for Hammond. Tags: Pepsi,

How Does A Riverine Setting Affect The Lifestyle Of Shellmound Builders In Brazil?, Sabine Eggers, C. C. Petronilho, K. Brandt, C. Jericó-Daminello, J. Filippini, Karl Reinhard

Karl Reinhard Publications

The contact of inland and coastal prehistoric groups in Brazil is believed to have been restricted to regions with no geographical barrier, as is the case in the Ribeira de Iguape valley. The inland osteological collection from the riverine shellmound Moraes (5800–4500 BP) represents a unique opportunity to test this assumption for this region. Despite cultural similarities between riverine and coastal shellmounds, important ecological and site distribution differences are expected to impact on lifestyle. The purpose of this study is thus to document and interpret health and lifestyle indicators in Moraes in comparison to coastal shellmound groups. Specifically we test …

Faculty Opinion As Collection Evaluation Method: A Case Study Of Redeemer's University Library, Osagie Oseghale

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Library users judge the quality of a collection by the extent to which it can meet their teaching, learning, and research requirements. University faculty must have a library collection that meets their curricular and accreditation needs. A questionnaire was used to collect data from 70 academic staff who participated in the study. Findings revealed that most respondents find useful material in the library occasionally, but that the collection needs to be strengthened in particular subject areas and in print serials. Faculty judgments about the library might become even more critical in an environment where they do not have any means …

Web Portals To Taiwan’S Past

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

One of the blessings of the Internet Age is the availability of valuable information about the past, in this case Taiwanese history. This post introduces a few English and Chinese websites that I have found most interesting/useful. The list is hardly meant to be exhaustive, and people should feel free to recommend other sites that would benefit all those interested in this topic.

1. The Gerald Warner Taiwan Image Collection — Put together by Paul Barclay at Lafayette College, this website contains 340 photographs and postcards gathered by Warner from 1937 to 1941 during and after his tenure as U.S. …

I Know It’S Only Rock’N’Roll (But They Don’T Like It)—The Sequel…, Jeff Wasserstrom

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

My next posts were all supposed to deal with my recent trip to China, but news about the long-awaited Guns’n’Roses release, “Chinese Democracy,” stirring up controversy in China is something that I can’t resist weighing in on. I won’t go into details about whether or how it has actually been banned in Beijing, as you can find out about that other places, including here and here. And I don’t need to fill you in on the China-related content of the album (a work I hasten to admit I haven’t heard yet), as that is covered thoroughly in an excellent Huffington …

China In 2008: Pre-Orders Now Available

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

The weekend after Thanksgiving is the beginning of the Christmas shopping season, but if you’d like to avoid the crush at the malls, China in 2008 now has its own webpage, where you can order a copy for all those hard-to-gift friends (especially if they don’t mind it arriving in March–the release date for the book…).

In Case You Missed It: Post-Mao China

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Last year, the Association for Asian Studies inaugurated a new series of booklets under their “Resources for Teaching About Asia” branch called “Key Issues in Asian Studies.” The first two booklets in the series were published in 2007: Political Rights in Post-Mao China by Merle Goldman and Gender, Sexuality, and Body Politics in Modern Asia by Michael Peletz. (Those interested in applying to write a “Key Issues” booklet should see the AAS’s author guidelines.)

Goldman’s book on political rights in contemporary China canvases the factions that dominated political discussions in the post-Mao era, and is key reading for those who …

Thanksgiving In China…?

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Despite calls several years ago for a Chinese Thanksgiving Day, Thanksgiving hasn’t caught on in China as Christmas has. And with good reason–the holiday hasn’t brought much to China other than (last year) Paris Hilton.

But tomorrow begins the Christmas shopping season (a holiday that has caught on in some places in China–if largely for its commercial meanings), and this new holiday may have more dire implications in China this year. Analysts are predicting slow Christmas sales in the U.S., which may mean a slow season for Chinese manufacturers as well.

What Comes First, Agricultural Growth Or Democracy?, Lilyan E. Fulginiti

Lilyan E. Fulginiti Publications

Today, the international community faces two major development challenges, how to ignite growth and how to establish democracy. Economic research has identified two plausible hypotheses regarding this association. The first hypothesis emphasizes the need to start with democracy and institutions that secure property rights. The second hypothesis emphasizes the need to start with physical and human capital accumulation. In this paper we discuss some of the econometric evidence on the relationship between institutions, human capital, and agricultural productivity growth across developed and developing countries with the objective of finding support for one or the other hypothesis. We use Barro type …

In Case You Missed It: Three Faces Of Chinese Power, Eric Setzekorn

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

David Lampton, a distinguished professor of international relations at SAIS, knows this is a great time to publish a book on Chinese power. As a new administration, which he may play a role in, attempts to craft a balanced and articulate China policy, his newest effort, The Three Faces of Chinese Power; Might, Money and Minds, will be influential and widely read. The book is a comprehensive and largely successful attempt to grasp the motivation, intent and challenges for Chinese international relations as China becomes a global leader and East Asia the center of world economic, political and military power. …

What Comes First, Agricultural Growth Or Democracy?, Lilyan E. Fulginiti

Department of Agricultural Economics: Faculty Publications

Today, the international community faces two major development challenges, how to ignite growth and how to establish democracy. Economic research has identified two plausible hypotheses regarding this association. The first hypothesis emphasizes the need to start with democracy and institutions that secure property rights. The second hypothesis emphasizes the need to start with physical and human capital accumulation. In this paper we discuss some of the econometric evidence on the relationship between institutions, human capital, and agricultural productivity growth across developed and developing countries with the objective of finding support for one or the other hypothesis. We use Barro type …

Markets

Cornhusker Economics

Markets

The Problem Of China: A Revisitation, Peter Zarrow

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Even though Dewey and Tagore have gotten more attention lately in scholarly works on Chinese education and ruminations of Chinese interactions with other countries, we at China Beat remain equally interested in the third famous foreign philosopher who gave a high profile set of lectures to audiences in Beijing and other cities during the aftermath of World War I: Bertrand Russell.

We thought about him when running our series on Jonathan Spence’s Reith Lectures, since Russell gave the inaugural ones sixty years before that. And we think of him when perusing the sections of Chinese bookstores devoted to philosophical matters …

2008 Awards

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

We are healthily skeptical about the newsworthiness of award recipients — prizes don’t, after all, always go to the right people. But a well-bequeathed award can draw attention to an intriguing book or piece of writing that one might have otherwise missed.

In an attempt at a premature 2008 awards wrap-up, here are a few that you might have overlooked.

1. There was consternation from the Chinese state in August and September over the mention that activist Hu Jia might be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. While he didn’t win the Nobel, he was awarded the Sakharov Prize by the …

Recommendation: "Garden Of Contentment"

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

If you haven’t already stumbled across Fuchsia Dunlop’s piece in last week’s New Yorker on a Hangzhou restaurant that uses only local food, it’s worth a read. Dunlop, author of two Chinese cookbooks and the recently-published memoirShark’s Fin and Sichuan Pepper, describes her trip to visit Dai Jianjun, owner of the Dragon Well Manor, which serves a prix fixe menu to diners (starting at about 300 yuan) “prepared with local ingredients according to the theories of Chinese medicine and the solar terms of the old agricultural calendar.” Here’s a short excerpt:

Dai’s main worry is that traditional farming and cooking …

Peng Mulan In China

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

As part of our continuing follow-up on “China Beatniks in Beijing,” we wanted to share with you a couple links to articles on the talk Kenneth Pomeranz (彭慕兰) gave at Qinghua University, here and here (both in Chinese). Pomeranz’s talk for the Beijing Forum was at Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, the site of Nixon and Mao’s meeting as well as the former home of Jiang Qing. Here are few pictures:

Playing Politics With Cats And Dogs, Jeff Wasserstrom

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

As regular readers of this blog already know, I recently crossed the Pacific to take part in the Beijing Forum, a fascinating if sometimes hard to figure out event that was valuable in part simply because of how many different countries were represented by at least one presenter. How often, after all, does an American academic find himself or herself in a room where there is an exchange of opinions going on between a scholar based in Moscow and a scholar based in Cairo, or hears an administrator from a university in Nairobi respond to comments his counterparts from Sri …

November 2008 - Staff Meeting Minutes

ALEC Committee Minutes

No abstract provided.