Intellectuals Debate #MeToo in China: Legitimizing Feminist Activism, Challenging Gendered Myths, and Reclaiming Feminism

2020 ◽  
Vol 70 (6) ◽  
pp. 895-916
Author(s):  
Qi Ling ◽  
Sara Liao

Abstract This study focuses on the intellectual debate over #MeToo in China provoked by an article written by a well-known Chinese scholar and public intellectual Liu Yu. Raising such countervailing issues as women’s supposed complicity in sexual harassment and the drawbacks of digital activism in comparison with legal action, Liu’s article marked a crucial moment in the public awareness and discussion of #MeToo and digital activism in China in 2018. By analyzing the critical responses to Liu’s argumentations, we examined the discursive impact of these critical efforts to destabilize Liu’s hegemonic reading of the sexual harassment culture in China. We show how Liu’s critics offered a compelling defense of #MeToo, deconstructed enduring gendered myths, and had a significant impact in terms of reclaiming feminism in China. We argue further that the critics’ intellectual and deliberative efforts exemplify China’s local struggles in the global #MeToo movement and feminist activism.

1995 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nan Stein

In this article, Nan Stein argues that sexual harassment in schools is a form of gendered violence that often happens in the public arena. She presents the narratives of girls and boys about their experience of sexual harassment in schools and finds parallels with cases documented in court records and depositions. While highly publicized lawsuits and civil rights cases may have increased public awareness of the issue, inconsistent findings have sent educators mixed messages about ways of dealing with peer-to-peer sexual harassment. The antecedents of harassment, she suggests, are found in teasing and bullying, behaviors tacitly accepted by parents and teachers. Stein makes a case for deliberate adult intervention and the inclusion of a curriculum in schools that builds awareness of these issues.


2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 104-115
Author(s):  
Gilang Desti Parahita

Some studies have discussed digital activism and politics in Indonesia. However, studies investigating the phenomenon of Indonesian feminist activism on social media have  yet to be conducted. On the other hand, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and also other online platforms have become a fertile site for the public to aspire their views and mobilize people for some causes, including  social media accounts voicing feminist perspectives in Indonesian online sphere. This study uncovers the actors behind and goals of feminism activists who create accounts on social media such as Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. The method of the study is snow-ball interviews, content analyses of Instagram posts, and close observation on public activities of the important figures within the movement on their social media account, as well as their writings. This study found that Indonesian digital feminism activists have started with the agencies of the young women of Indonesia in the circle of senior feminists in Jakarta, as well as feminist emerging from the GusDurian network. Basic literacy and digital literacy have facilitated the activists with capability to articulate and share their ideas. Eventually, the activists initiate the movement on social media which  functions as a means of creating digital safe place, sharing personal stories, providing online discussion forum, promoting marches and offline discussion events, responding to criticisms and oppositional standpoints, as well as conducting and publishing research.


Author(s):  
Julio H. Cole

Milton Friedman, who died in the early morning of November 16, 2006, was a world-famous economist, and an ardent and effective advocate of the free market economy. Much of his celebrity derived from his role as public intellectual, an aspect of his work that was reflected largely in popular books, such as Capitalism and Freedom (1962) and the hugely successful Free to Choose (1980) -both co-authored with his wife, Rose (and the latter based on the television documentary of the same title)- and in the Newsweek opinion columns he wrote for many years. Though he was already well-known by the time he received the Nobel Prize in Economics, in 1976, both his stature as public figure and his effectiveness as policy advocate were greatly enhanced by that award, and this is what has been mostly stressed in the vast outpouring of obituaries and public testimonials prompted by his recent passing. It is important to recall, however, that there was another aspect of his career, one which most professional economists (and probably Friedman himself) would regard as far more important than his incursions in the policy arena. Indeed, even if "Friedman the public intellectual" had never existed, "Friedman the economic scientist" would still be renowned and respected (though perhaps not as a bona fide world-class celebrity), and his memory will live long in the lore of economics It is primarily this other aspect of his life and work that I wish to focus on in this essay.


Author(s):  
William W. Franko ◽  
Christopher Witko

Here the authors present the variation that exists in income inequality across the states, and variation in public awareness or concern about income inequality as measured by public opinion polls. Though politicians may decide to tackle income inequality even in the absence of public concern about inequality, the authors argue that government responses are more likely when and where there is a growing awareness of, and concern about, inequality, which is confirmed in the analyses in this book. To examine this question in subsequent chapters, a novel measure of public awareness of rising state inequality is developed. Using these estimates, this chapter shows that the growth in the public concern about inequality responds in part to objective increases in inequality, but also that state political conditions, particularly mass partisanship, shape perceptions of inequality.


2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-80
Author(s):  
Sarah Banet-Weiser

When the hashtag #metoo began to circulate in digital and social media, it challenged a familiar interpretation of those who are raped or sexually harassed as victims, positioning women as embodied agents. Yet, almost exactly a year after the #metoo movement shot to visible prominence, a different, though eerily similar, story began to circulate on the same multi-media platforms as #metoo: a story about white male victimhood. Powerful men in positions of privilege (almost always white) began to take up the mantle of victimhood as their own, often claiming to be victims of false accusations of sexual harassment and assault by women. Through the analysis of five public statements by highly visible, powerful men who have been accused of sexual violence, I argue that the discourse of victimhood is appropriated not by those who have historically suffered but by those in positions of patriarchal power. Almost all of the statements contain some sentiment about how the accusation (occasionally acknowledging the actual violence) ‘ruined their life’, and all of the statements analyzed here center the author, the accused white man, as the key subject in peril and the authors position themselves as truth-tellers about the incidents. These statements underscore certain shifts in the public perception of sexual violence; the very success of the #metoo movement in shifting the narrative has meant that men have had to defend themselves more explicitly in public. In order to wrestle back a hegemonic gender stability, these men take on the mantle of victimhood themselves.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanmo Li ◽  
Mengyang Gu

AbstractThe COVID-19 outbreak is asynchronous in US counties. Mitigating the COVID-19 transmission requires not only the state and federal level order of protective measures such as social distancing and testing, but also public awareness of time-dependent risk and reactions at county and community levels. We propose a robust approach to estimate the heterogeneous progression of SARS-CoV-2 at all US counties having no less than 2 COVID-19 associated deaths, and we use the daily probability of contracting (PoC) SARS-CoV-2 for a susceptible individual to quantify the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in a community. We found that shortening by $$5\%$$ 5 % of the infectious period of SARS-CoV-2 can reduce around $$39\%$$ 39 % (or 78 K, $$95\%$$ 95 % CI: [66 K , 89 K ]) of the COVID-19 associated deaths in the US as of 20 September 2020. Our findings also indicate that reducing infection and deaths by a shortened infectious period is more pronounced for areas with the effective reproduction number close to 1, suggesting that testing should be used along with other mitigation measures, such as social distancing and facial mask-wearing, to reduce the transmission rate. Our deliverable includes a dynamic county-level map for local officials to determine optimal policy responses and for the public to better understand the risk of contracting SARS-CoV-2 on each day.


Author(s):  
Jun Yang ◽  
Yutong Zhang ◽  
Yixiong Xiao ◽  
Shaoqing Shen ◽  
Mo Su ◽  
...  

Cities around the globe are embracing the Healthy Cities approach to address urban health challenges. Public awareness is vital for successfully deploying this approach but is rarely assessed. In this study, we used internet search queries to evaluate the public awareness of the Healthy Cities approach applied in Shenzhen, China. The overall situation at the city level and the intercity variations were both analyzed. Additionally, we explored the factors that might affect the internet search queries of the Healthy Cities approach. Our results showed that the public awareness of the approach in Shenzhen was low. There was a high intercity heterogeneity in terms of interest in the various components of the Healthy Cities approach. However, we did not find a significant effect of the selected demographic, environmental, and health factors on the search queries. Based on our findings, we recommend that the city raise public awareness of healthy cities and take actions tailored to health concerns in different city zones. Our study showed that internet search queries can be a valuable data source for assessing the public awareness of the Healthy Cities approach.


2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 41-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Joyce

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse the 2016 elections for Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) and to compare them with those that took place in 2012. It seeks to evaluate the background of the candidates who stood for office in 2016, the policies that they put forward, the results of the contests and the implications of the 2016 experience for future PCC elections. Design/methodology/approach This paper is based around several key themes – the profile of candidates who stood for election, preparations conducted prior to the contests taking place, the election campaign and issues raised during the contests, the results and the profile of elected candidates. The paper is based upon documentary research, making particular use of primary source material. Findings The research establishes that affiliation to a political party became the main route for successful candidates in 2016 and that local issues related to low-level criminality will dominate the future policing agenda. It establishes that although turnout was higher than in 2012, it remains low and that further consideration needs to be devoted to initiatives to address this for future PCC election contests. Research limitations/implications The research focusses on the 2016 elections and identifies a number of key issues that emerged during the campaign affecting the conduct of the contests which have a bearing on future PCC elections. It treats these elections as a bespoke topic and does not seek to place them within the broader context of the development of the office of PCC. Practical implications The research suggests that in order to boost voter participation in future PCC election contests, PCCs need to consider further means to advertise the importance of the role they perform and that the government should play a larger financial role in funding publicity for these elections and consider changing the method of election. Social implications The rationale for introducing PCCs was to empower the public in each police force area. However, issues that include the enhanced importance of political affiliation as a criteria for election in 2016 and the social unrepresentative nature of those who stood for election and those who secured election to this office in these contests coupled with shortcomings related to public awareness of both the role of PCCs and the timing of election contests threaten to undermine this objective. Originality/value The extensive use of primary source material ensures that the subject matter is original and its interpretation is informed by an academic perspective.


Buildings ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 95
Author(s):  
Ghazal Makvandia ◽  
Md. Safiuddin

Efforts have been put in place to minimize the effects of construction activities and occupancy, but the problem of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions continues to have detrimental effects on the environment. As an effort to reduce GHG emissions, particularly carbon emissions, countable commercial, industrial, institutional, and residential net-zero energy (NZE) buildings were built around the globe during the past few years, and they are still operating. But there exist many challenges and barriers for the construction of NZE buildings. This study identifies the obstacles to developing NZE buildings, with a focus on single-family homes, in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). The study sought to identify the technical, organizational, and social challenges of constructing NZE buildings, realize the importance of the public awareness in making NZE homes, and provide recommendations on how to raise public knowledge. A qualitative approach was employed to collect the primary data through survey and interviews. The secondary data obtained from the literature review were also used to realize the benefits, challenges, and current situation of NZE buildings. Research results indicate that the construction of NZE buildings is faced with a myriad of challenges, including technical issues, the lack of governmental and institutional supports, and the lack of standardized measures. The public awareness of NZE homes has been found to be very low, thus limiting the uptake and adoption of the new technologies used in this type of homes. The present study also recommends that the government and the academic institutions should strive to support the NZE building technology through curriculum changes, technological uptake, and financial incentives to buyers and developers. The implementation of these recommendations may enhance the success and popularity of NZE homes in the GTA.


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