DOCSLIB.ORG

Sharism and Social Awareness of the Chinese One Child Generation: Urban Youth and Digital Networks

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Sharism and Social Awareness of the Chinese One Child Generation: Urban Youth and Digital Networks Sharism and social awareness of the Chinese One Child Generation: urban youth and digital networks Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Danjing Zhang (Joy) Master of Arts, Creative Industries (Queensland University of Technology) Bachelor of Commence and Liberal Study (The University of Sydney) Queensland University of Technology 2015 Keywords Digital communication The One Child Generation Social trust Youth communities Chinese digital generation Social and digital sharing i Abstract This thesis investigates social awareness among the One Child Generation in China, in the context of the concept of risk society (Beck, 1992). The One Child Generation has emerged from a form of population control that has allowed only one child per urban family since 1979. Beck (1992) argues that industrial society is increasingly a producer of risk. In his view, risk is inherent to modernity and contributes to the formation of a global risk society. In the Chinese context, the One Child Generation is particularly described as a new generation of ‘spoiled’ single children. Rapid urbanisation and industrialisation in China since 1978 when Deng Xiaoping opened Chinese borders for trade has bought about specific social problems that increasingly lead to social discontent under the current Chinese government. Specifically the One Child Generation has become increasingly aware of a variety of problems including pollution, social distrust, as well as food safety issues. This group also questions current domestic consumptive practice. Consequently, widespread anxieties about the ramifications of daily life in China have become apparent in the mainstream consciousness of many Chinese citizens. This thesis examines the One Child Generation’s responses to the global concern of environmental degradation and future uncertainty by examining capacities of ‘individual focused communities’ and motivations, their current activities, their digital media communication and the future engagement among these communities. Therefore the thesis opposes the stereotypical view in the past that children born into Chinese one-child families are simplistic, materialistic and selfish. The research supporting this argument identifies counter trends towards a new model of social awareness demonstrating a hybridised version of the mechanisms of individualism and collectivism empowered by social media. This thesis examines two case studies: the emergence of an urban farmers’ community, and volunteerism in educational camps. Youth grassroots communities are very different from communities of the past. They are self-organising, highly networked and have a diverse social awareness. Here the thesis argues that urban youth’s community participation provides a mechanism and strategy for survival in the ‘risk society’ generated by the rapid economic development. Increasing social awareness and aspirations for quality of life are linked to new forms of ‘sharism’. Rather than just Western-style individualism, this new manifestation of sharism reflects Chinese local tradition as well as the global trend of digital collective intelligence. The thesis contends that digital communication in contemporary China facilitates both collectivism and freedom of choice among the urban middle class One Child Generation. Table of Contents Keywords ................................................................................................................................. i Abstract ................................................................................................................................... ii Table of Contents .................................................................................................................. iv List of Tables ......................................................................................................................... vi List of Figures ....................................................................................................................... vii List of Abbreviations .......................................................................................................... viii Acknowledgement ................................................................................................................... x Chapter 1: Introduction ....................................................................................................... 15 1. The One Child Generation in the ‘Risk Society’ ................................................................ 17 2. The Connected single child ................................................................................................. 19 3. Purpose of the study ............................................................................................................ 22 4. Chapter breakdown ............................................................................................................. 28 Chapter 2: Background: The One Child Generation ........................................................ 31 1. Generational shift ................................................................................................................ 33 2. One Child Generation: the little emperor, neo-tribes and identity ...................................... 36 3. The One Child Generation’s digital engagement ................................................................ 43 4. Ethical consumption and the youth’s use of ICTs .............................................................. 47 5. Born into social issues: competition, distrust, and education ............................................. 49 6. The emergence of the new ethics and volunteerism ........................................................... 54 7. The One Child Generation’s Chinese Dream ..................................................................... 57 Chapter 3: Literature Review .............................................................................................. 63 1. The One Child Generation .................................................................................................. 66 2. The Risk Society ................................................................................................................. 77 3. Digital media communication ............................................................................................. 83 4. Sharism ............................................................................................................................... 89 Chapter 4: Methodology ..................................................................................................... 105 1. Research Questions ........................................................................................................... 106 2. Case Studies ...................................................................................................................... 108 3. Approach ........................................................................................................................... 113 4. Mixed methods .................................................................................................................. 115 5. Contextualising the field and scope .................................................................................. 123 Chapter 5: Urban farmers communities ........................................................................... 128 1. Background ....................................................................................................................... 129 2. Approach ........................................................................................................................... 136 3. Findings ............................................................................................................................ 138 3.1 Motivations ................................................................................................................. 139 3. 2 Current activities ........................................................................................................... 148 3.3 Digital communication tools ........................................................................................... 160 3.4 Future and barriers ......................................................................................................... 170 4. Conclusion to the chapter .................................................................................................. 172 Chapter 6: Volunteerism associated with youth camp re-education .............................. 176 1. Background ....................................................................................................................... 178 2. Approach ........................................................................................................................... 193 3. Findings ............................................................................................................................ 200 3.1 Motivations ..................................................................................................................... 200 3.2 Current activities ............................................................................................................ 208 3.3 The use of digital communication and the grassroots volunteerism ............................... 225 3.4 Future engagement ........................................................................................................
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Developments in Chinese Agriculture
    DEVELOPMENTS IN CHINESE AGRICULTURE abare eReport 05.7 Ivan Roberts and Neil Andrews July 2005 abare © Commonwealth of Australia 2005 This work is copyright. The Copyright Act 1968 permits fair dealing for study, research, news reporting, criticism or review. Selected passages, tables or diagrams may be reproduced for such purposes provided acknowledgment of the source is included. Major extracts or the entire document may not be repro- duced by any process without the written permission of the Executive Director, ABARE. ISSN 1447-817X ISBN 1 920925 39 2 Roberts, I. and Andrews, N. 2005, Developments in Chinese Agriculture, ABARE eReport 05.7, Canberra, July. Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics GPO Box 1563 Canberra 2601 Telephone +61 2 6272 2000 Facsimile +61 2 6272 2001 Internet www.abareconomics.com ABARE is a professionally independent government economic research agency. ABARE project 2989 abare eReport 05.7 foreword China’s rapid economic growth is bringing about marked changes to its agricultural industries. Profound changes are taking place in the demand for agricultural products as consumers move away from staple foods such as grains to include vegetables, fruits, meats and dairy prod- ucts in their diets. So far, China has been able to meet these changes in demand by being able to adapt its domestic agricultural production. However, there is evidence now that China’s agriculture is coming under increasing pres- sure from problems associated with water constraints and land degrada- tion in some regions. Because China is a large agricultural producing and consuming country, small changes in either production or consumption can have a signifi - cant infl uence on world trade.
    [Show full text]
  • Shanghai, China's Capital of Modernity
    SHANGHAI, CHINA’S CAPITAL OF MODERNITY: THE PRODUCTION OF SPACE AND URBAN EXPERIENCE OF WORLD EXPO 2010 by GARY PUI FUNG WONG A thesis submitted to The University of Birmingham for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOHPY School of Government and Society Department of Political Science and International Studies The University of Birmingham February 2014 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. ABSTRACT This thesis examines Shanghai’s urbanisation by applying Henri Lefebvre’s theories of the production of space and everyday life. A review of Lefebvre’s theories indicates that each mode of production produces its own space. Capitalism is perpetuated by producing new space and commodifying everyday life. Applying Lefebvre’s regressive-progressive method as a methodological framework, this thesis periodises Shanghai’s history to the ‘semi-feudal, semi-colonial era’, ‘socialist reform era’ and ‘post-socialist reform era’. The Shanghai World Exposition 2010 was chosen as a case study to exemplify how urbanisation shaped urban experience. Empirical data was collected through semi-structured interviews. This thesis argues that Shanghai developed a ‘state-led/-participation mode of production’.
    [Show full text]
  • China's Urbanization, Social Restructure and Public
    Graduate Journal of Asia-Pacific Studies 9:1 (2014) 55-77 Articles China’s Urbanization, Social Restructure and Public Administration Reforms: An Overview Xiaoyuan Wan University of Sheffield [email protected] Abstract This paper provides a review of the broad process of China’s urbanization and the urban public administration reform since the 1978 reforms, with a focus on the changing public policies in the realms of employment, housing, social insurance and the devolution of government authority. It suggests that the main government rationale of the public administration system reforms was to hand over a part of public services which used to be delivered by the central government and state-owned enterprises (SOEs), to local governments and to devolve a part of responsibility to the private sector, the social sector and individuals. According to these reforms, most of the social services, which could only be enjoyed by the employees of the SOEs were handed over to grassroots governments and aimed to cover more urban population. But at the same time, individuals had to take on more responsibilities of their careers choice and fund part of their own social welfare. This paper concludes by suggesting that with proliferating literature on China’s social and economic transition, further study should be carried out to explore the implementation of the reformed urban public policies by local governments and special concern should be given to the participation of non-government actors in China’s public administration. Introduction SINCE THE LATE 1970S, a series of economic reforms have been driving China to step away from a rigid socialism to a more open and diverse society, in which the urban economy developed at a tremendous speed and played an increasingly important role in the national economy.
    [Show full text]
  • EDUCATION in CHINA a Snapshot This Work Is Published Under the Responsibility of the Secretary-General of the OECD
    EDUCATION IN CHINA A Snapshot This work is published under the responsibility of the Secretary-General of the OECD. The opinions expressed and arguments employed herein do not necessarily reflect the official views of OECD member countries. This document and any map included herein are without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area. Photo credits: Cover: © EQRoy / Shutterstock.com; © iStock.com/iPandastudio; © astudio / Shutterstock.com Inside: © iStock.com/iPandastudio; © li jianbing / Shutterstock.com; © tangxn / Shutterstock.com; © chuyuss / Shutterstock.com; © astudio / Shutterstock.com; © Frame China / Shutterstock.com © OECD 2016 You can copy, download or print OECD content for your own use, and you can include excerpts from OECD publications, databases and multimedia products in your own documents, presentations, blogs, websites and teaching materials, provided that suitable acknowledgement of OECD as source and copyright owner is given. All requests for public or commercial use and translation rights should be submitted to [email protected]. Requests for permission to photocopy portions of this material for public or commercial use shall be addressed directly to the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) at [email protected] or the Centre français d’exploitation du droit de copie (CFC) at [email protected]. Education in China A SNAPSHOT Foreword In 2015, three economies in China participated in the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment, or PISA, for the first time: Beijing, a municipality, Jiangsu, a province on the eastern coast of the country, and Guangdong, a southern coastal province.
    [Show full text]
  • Local Authority in the Han Dynasty: Focus on the Sanlao
    Local Authority in the Han Dynasty: Focus on the Sanlao Jiandong CHEN 㱩ڎ暒 School of International Studies Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences University of Technology Sydney Australia A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Technology Sydney Sydney, Australia 2018 Certificate of Original Authorship I certify that the work in this thesis has not previously been submitted for a degree nor has it been submitted as part of requirements for a degree except as fully acknowledged within the text. I also certify that the thesis has been written by me. Any help that I have received in my research work and the preparation of the thesis itself has been acknowledged. In addition, I certify that all information sources and literature used are indicated in the thesis. This thesis is the result of a research candidature conducted with another University as part of a collaborative Doctoral degree. Production Note: Signature of Student: Signature removed prior to publication. Date: 30/10/2018 ii Acknowledgements The completion of the thesis would not have been possible without the help and support of many people. Firstly, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Associate Professor Jingqing Yang for his continuous support during my PhD study. Many thanks for providing me with the opportunity to study at the University of Technology Sydney. His patience, motivation and immense knowledge guided me throughout the time of my research. I cannot imagine having a better supervisor and mentor for my PhD study. Besides my supervisor, I would like to thank the rest of my thesis committee: Associate Professor Chongyi Feng and Associate Professor Shirley Chan, for their insightful comments and encouragement; and also for their challenging questions which incited me to widen my research and view things from various perspectives.
    [Show full text]
  • WIKINOMICS How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything
    WIKINOMICS How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything EXPANDED EDITION Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams Portfolio Praise for Wikinomics “Wikinomics illuminates the truth we are seeing in markets around the globe: the more you share, the more you win. Wikinomics sheds light on the many faces of business collaboration and presents a powerful new strategy for business leaders in a world where customers, employees, and low-cost producers are seizing control.” —Brian Fetherstonhaugh, chairman and CEO, OgilvyOne Worldwide “A MapQuest–like guide to the emerging business-to-consumer relation- ship. This book should be invaluable to any manager—helping us chart our way in an increasingly digital world.” —Tony Scott, senior vice president and chief information officer, The Walt Disney Company “Knowledge creation happens in social networks where people learn and teach each other. Wikinomics shows where this phenomenon is headed when turbocharged to engage the ideas and energy of customers, suppli- ers, and producers in mass collaboration. It’s a must-read for those who want a map of where the world is headed.” —Noel Tichy, professor, University of Michigan and author of Cycle of Leadership “A deeply profound and hopeful book. Wikinomics provides compelling evidence that the emerging ‘creative commons’ can be a boon, not a threat to business. Every CEO should read this book and heed its wise counsel if they want to succeed in the emerging global economy.” —Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman, World Economic Forum “Business executives who want to be able to stay competitive in the future should read this compelling and excellently written book.” —Tiffany Olson, president and CEO, Roche Diagnostics Corporation, North America “One of the most profound shifts transforming business and society in the early twenty-first century is the rapid emergence of open, collaborative innovation models.
    [Show full text]
  • Book Review on Marxism, China and Globalization (By Xu Changfu)*
    Comparative Philosophy Volume 12, No. 1 (2021): 215-221 Open Access / ISSN 2151-6014 / www.comparativephilosophy.org https://doi.org/10.31979/2151-6014(2021).120117 RECENT WORK BOOK REVIEW ON MARXISM, CHINA AND GLOBALIZATION (BY XU CHANGFU)* IAN HUNT Xu Changfu’s book is an excellent and thoughtfully written collection of essays on the role that Marxism plays in Chinese thought today and how China fits into the modern world, and raises several interesting problems concerning the role of Marxism in China. He argues that a freer discussion of Marxism would enable a thoroughgoing Sinicization of Marxism by ensuring interpretations and developments of Marx’s thought are produced in China and not simply borrowed from elsewhere, as they will tend to be so long as the discussion of Marxism relates only to the theory’s application to social issues in China. The revised edition includes two additional chapters on the nature of the ruling power in a revolutionary society progressing toward socialism. The first introduces a highly interesting discussion of the difference between Lenin and Kautsky over, firstly, the role of elections in a revolutionary situation in which society could progress toward socialism and, secondly, over the nature of “the dictatorship of the proletariat.” The second looks at the political legacy of Deng Xiaoping and argues for the importance of rules limiting leadership positions to two terms in the ruling bodies of the People’s Republic of China. This review concludes that Xu raises important issues concerning the understanding of Marxism, and the influence of Marxism in China, which should be widely discussed, given their interest and importance in the world today.
    [Show full text]
  • Choosing Entry Mode to Mainland China
    東海管理評論【特刊】 民國一百年，第十二卷，第一期，71-120 Choosing Entry Mode to Mainland China Joung -Yol Lin*, Batchuluun AMRITA** Abstract The Economic Cooperation Framework Agreements (ECFA) is an agreement between the Republic of China (Taiwan) and People’s Republic of China (Mainland China), which was signed on June 29, 2010. The ECFA can have a far reaching impact on bilateral businesses relationship of the two parties, further strengthening the financial infrastructure and enhancing financial stability. Currently, thirteen Taiwanese banks meet the capital adequacy or stake acquisition requirements in the mainland China; on the contrary, five mainland Chinese banks meet the capital adequacy and operation experience requirements for opening a representative office in Taiwan. Consequently, a merger of banks and related options between the two regions are under discussion. In a review of the ECFA and other reports, Taiwanese banks will be able to progress further on the banking business in the mainland market within 2 years. However, there are still many uncertainties and questions concerning bank characteristics after ECFA; such as competitive position, market efficiency, long term returns and dimensional stability. This paper investigates theoretical and empirical studies and application of PESTEL analysis on the major factors in the macro environment of China. Specific attention is made in regards to the securities, banking and insurance aspects. The vital finding of this study is investigation of the entry mode strategy for the Chinese market with a long –term vision to foster into global competition. Finally, in order to intensify the competitive advantage, this paper explores a viable model for Taiwanese Banks to structure their products and services upon.
    [Show full text]
  • (OER) Movement
    MiT8 public media, private media May 3-5, 2013 at MIT, Cambridge, MA Theo Hug <[email protected]> (University of Innsbruck) Education for All Revisited: On Concepts of Sharing in the Open Educational Resources (OER) Movement DRAFT VERSION Abstract1 Relationships between the private and public sphere in education have been discussed repeatedly and in various ways. However, the role of media and media dynamics is widely underestimated in this context. Only recently, after the digital turn, has the focus of the debates changed. In the past few years, manifold initiatives aiming at opening up education on various levels using digital communications technologies and Creative Commons licenses. Additionally, massive open online courses (moocs) have been developed. Today, OER (Open Educational Resources) is used widely as an umbrella term for free content creation initiatives: OER Commons (http://www.oercommons.org/), Open Courseware (OCW), OER repositories, OCW search facilities, University OCW initiatives, and related activities. Shared resource sites such as Connexions (http://cnx.org), WikiEducator (http://wikieducator.org), and Curriki (www.curriki.org) have an increasing number of visitors and contributors. On one hand, the motif of ‘education for all’ is once again appearing in related debates and practices. On the other hand, notions of sharing play a crucial role in open content and open education strategies. This paper has a threefold purpose: it starts with an outline of selected understandings of sharing in educational contexts; it then addresses their relevance for OER development through examining contrasting and relational conceptual dimensions. Furthermore, the contribution aims to take forms of sharing as media forms and to distinguish between stronger and weaker forms of sharing.
    [Show full text]
  • Food Safety in China: Implicationsof Accession to the WTO
    China Perspectives 2012/1 | 2012 China’s WTO Decade Food Safety in China: Implicationsof Accession to the WTO Denise Prévost Electronic version URL: http://journals.openedition.org/chinaperspectives/5807 DOI: 10.4000/chinaperspectives.5807 ISSN: 1996-4617 Publisher Centre d'étude français sur la Chine contemporaine Printed version Date of publication: 30 March 2012 Number of pages: 39-47 ISSN: 2070-3449 Electronic reference Denise Prévost, « Food Safety in China: Implicationsof Accession to the WTO », China Perspectives [Online], 2012/1 | 2012, Online since 30 March 2015, connection on 28 October 2019. URL : http:// journals.openedition.org/chinaperspectives/5807 ; DOI : 10.4000/chinaperspectives.5807 © All rights reserved Special feature China perspectives Food Safety in China: Implications of Accession to the WTO DENISE PRÉVOST* ABSTRACT: The interaction between trade and health objectives has assumed critical importance for China since its accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO). The wish to improve its access to foreign markets has had a visible impact on China’s food safety policy, providing significant impetus for far-reaching reforms. The WTO Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement), to which China is now bound as a WTO Member, sets out a “best practices” regulatory model with which national food safety regulation must comply. The disciplines it entails on regulatory autonomy in the area of food safety may present considerable challenges for China but have the potential to promote rationality in such regulation and to prevent food safety regulations that are based on unfounded fears or are a response to protectionist pressures from the domestic food industry.
    [Show full text]
  • Will Sci-Hub Kill the Open Access Citation Advantage and (At Least for Now) Save Toll Access Journals?
    Will Sci-Hub Kill the Open Access Citation Advantage and (at least for now) Save Toll Access Journals? David W. Lewis October 2016 © 2016 David W. Lewis. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Introduction It is a generally accepted fact that open access journal articles enjoy a citation advantage.1 This citation advantage results from the fact that open access journal articles are available to everyone in the word with an Internet collection. Thus, anyone with an interest in the work can find it and use it easily with no out-of-pocket cost. This use leads to citations. Articles in toll access journals on the other hand, are locked behind paywalls and are only available to those associated with institutions who can afford the subscription costs, or who are willing and able to purchase individual articles for $30 or more. There has always been some slippage in the toll access journal system because of informal sharing of articles. Authors will usually send copies of their work to those who ask and sometime post them on their websites even when this is not allowable under publisher’s agreements. Stevan Harnad and his colleagues proposed making this type of author sharing a standard semi-automated feature for closed articles in institutional repositories.2 The hashtag #ICanHazPDF can be used to broadcast a request for an article that an individual does not have access to.3 Increasingly, toll access articles are required by funder mandates to be made publically available, though usually after an embargo period.
    [Show full text]
  • Offenheit Und Teilen in Der Open Educational Resources (OER) Bewegung
    Bildung für alle – eine Neuauflage? Offenheit und Teilen in der Open Educational Resources (OER) Bewegung Theo Hug Zusammenfassung Fragen nach der Bedeutung privater und öffentlicher Dimensionen in Bil- dungsprozessen und Forderungen nach Bildung für alle werden in der Pädago- gik seit Jahrhunderten diskutiert. Die Rolle von Medien und Mediendynami- ken wurde dabei weithin unterschätzt. In den letzten Jahren wurden allerdings vielfältige Initiativen entwickelt mit dem Ziel der Öffnung von Bildung mit- tels digitaler Kommunikationstechnologien und Creative Commons-Lizenzen sowie massive open online courses (moocs). Heute findet die Bezeichnung Open Educational Resources (OER) breite Verwendung als Überbegriff für Initiativen zur Schaffung von frei verfügbaren Inhalten, OER Commons, Open Courseware (OCW), OER-Archiven, OCW-Suchhilfen sowie universitären OCW-Initiativen und ähnlichen Aktivitäten. Auf der einen Seite werden in den einschlägigen Debatten und Praktiken alte Motive der Bildung für alle wieder aufgegriffen. Auf der anderen Seite spielen spezifische Auffassungen der gemeinsamen Nutzung eine zentrale Rolle bei Strategien bezüglich frei zugänglicher Inhalte und offener Bildungsmedien. Der Beitrag beginnt (1) mit einem Abriss über ausgewählte Auffassungen von Offenheit und Teilen in bildungsbezogenen Zusammenhängen, gefolgt (2) von einer Erörterung ihrer Relevanz für OER-Entwicklungen mittels der Gegenüberstellung und Relati- onierung von konzeptuellen Dimensionen. Abschließend (3) zielt der Beitrag auf eine Interpretation der Formen
    [Show full text]