Gloria Davies

Habermas in China: Theory as Catalyst

The rise of the contemporary German philosopher and sociologist Jurgen Habermas in China since the 1980s is described and three broad aspects of Chinese scholarship on Habermas are discussed. The debate that ensued within elite Chinese intellectual circles over Habermass position on the war in Kosovo and his visit to China in 2001 are examined. Habermass writings have either initiated or significantly accelerated reactions in Chinese critical inquiry while remaining unaffected by the interpretations that Chinese intellectuals have made of his work.

The Compliance Challenge: Implications for Social Security in the People's Republic of China

Discussion of social security compliance in developing societies has mainly focused on systemic administrative and operational issues. The article argues that analysis of compliance calls also for frameworks which draw lessons from nation-specific policy circumstances and comparisons of social protection regime types. Using such an approach, it also examines social security compliance in the context of China. Four considerations are found to be central to improved compliance: the sustainability of economic growth, trust in social institutions and regulations, the differing social values inherent in regime types, and institutional inertia accumulated in Chinas existing policy path.

Korean Cosmetic Surgery and Digital Publicity: Beauty by Korean Design:

This article examines the relationship between digital publicity and cosmetic surgery. While focused on South Korea, it also discusses China because of the conspicuous Chinese demand for Korean cosmetic surgery in recent years. In fact, China has become the largest export market for Korean cosmetic surgery. The analysis is based on the premise that there is a vital link between cosmetic surgery and digital technology in both these countries. We argue that the celebrity culture spawned by entertainment media has facilitated the normalisation of cosmetic surgery to the extent that it is commonly viewed, quite unproblematically, as a form of human physiological enhancement. The article examines the publicity surrounding cosmetic surgery (comprising media reports, advertisements and commentaries) to see how it is presented in the Korean media and on the internet. These findings are then considered in relation to the promotion of Korean cosmetic surgery in China.

The 'X Component' in Shanghai's Social Security Reforms

In 2003, the Shanghai Bureau of Labour and Social Security launched the zhenbao (town insurance) programme, now widely known as 25 plus X. This scheme is regarded as an important experiment in social security reform and has been lauded for extending social security to areas where previously only segments of the population had mandatory coverage. Using data from 103,000 individuals enrolled in 25 plus X, we examine the extent to which the scheme represents an extension in social security coverage. Our analysis suggests that while it does represent an extension of benefits for some, for many it represents a considerable dilution in benefits.

The China story yearbook 2015: pollution

Overview Environmental pollution poses serious challenges for China, including to its economy as well as public health. The China Story Yearbook 2015: Pollution looks at how China’s Communist Party-state addresses these problems and how Chinese citizens have coped with and expressed their concerns about living with chronic, worsening pollution. This Yearbook also explores the broader ramifications of pollution in the People’s Republic for culture, society law and social activism, as well as the Internet, language, thought, and approaches to history. It looks at how it affects economic and political developments, urban change, and China’s regional and global posture. The Chinese Communist Party, led by ‘Chairman of Everything’ Xi Jinping, meanwhile, has subjected mainland society to increasingly repressive control in its new determination to rid the country of Western ‘spiritual pollutants’ while achieving cultural purification through ‘propaganda and ideological work’.

Recent publications on Chinese poetry

Yoshikawa Kojiro (translated by John Timothy Wixted). Five Hundred Years of Chinese Poetry, 1150–1650. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1989. xix, 215 pp. Acknowledgements, translators preface, introduction, afterword, index. US

Crossing cultural boundaries: The elusive Globality of World literatures in English

39.50, hardcover; US

Worrying about China: The Language of Chinese Critical Inquiry

14.95, paper. David R. McCraw. Chinese Lyricists of the Seventeenth Century. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1990. xii, 193 pp. Preface, abbreviations, notes, bibliography, Chinese texts, index. US

Homo Dissensum Significans, or The Perils of Taking a Stand in China

24.00, hardcover. Wen–Kai Kung. Tu Mu (803–852): His Life and Poetry. Chinese Materials Center, Asian Library Series No. 45. San Francisco: Chinese Materials Center Publications, 1990. xx, 280 pp. Dedication, foreword, preface, acknowledgements, list of abbreviations and notes, appendices 1–4, notes, bibliography, comparative romanisation tables, index and glossary, maps. Hardcover. Julia Lin (translator). Women of the Red Plain: An Anthology of Contemporary Chinese Womens Poetry. London and New York: Penguin Books, 1992. 162 pp. Preface, index. US

THE FATE OF AN ENLIGHTENMENT: Twenty years in the Chinese intellectual sphere (1978–98)

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