Lessons from “Around the world with Oprah”: Neoliberalism,race, and the (geo)politics of beauty

On 6 October 2004, viewers went “Around the world with Oprah” and received a rare glimpse inside the lives of 30-year-old women from 17 different countries. When Oprah turned her gaze (and that of middle-class American housewives) eastward, she highlighted South Korean women's penchart for plastic surgery. Oprah's “trip” to South Korea is emblematic of Western discourse surrounding South Korean Women's plastic surgery consumption, most of which focuses on cosmetic eyelid surgery or the sangapul procedure as it is called in South Korea. Given its widespread popularity, the sangapul procedure has come to signify South Korean women's acquiescence to not only patriarchal oppression but racial oppression as well. This essay goes beyond the psychologization of South Korean women in order to ask what such psychological musings obscure about the very political nature of beauty itself. Using “Around the world with Oprah” as a starting point, then, this essay examines beauty at the intersection of race, technology, and (geo)politics in order to show that, in an era of neoliberalism, plastic surgery is often rationalized as an investment in the self towards a more normal, if not better future. As this essay suggests, such a framing of plastic surgery is contingent on Oprah's production of neoliberal feminism based on liberal notions of choice. Given her global reach, these neoliberal feminist subjects are not produced equally, however, but are discursively constructed along a First World/Third World divide.     

我国城乡居民消费价格指数差异分析

在刚刚过去的一轮通货膨胀中,农村的CPI涨幅持续高于城市。这种现象的存在不仅给农民带来更重的负担,也会阻碍国民经济的全面协调可持续发展。究其原因,一是根据一价法则,农村市场价格有向城市市场价格加速收敛的需要;二是农村市场自身不完善;三是政府的财政投入政策和宏观调控政策对农村市场不利。面对这种局面,要从财政投入、完善和规范农村市场制度以及调整宏观调控政策等方面入手解决问题。     

文化动力：一种解释城市发展与转型的新思维

城市发展动力问题一直备受社会和学界关注。新型城镇化背景下,以人为本的思路要求城市发展模式从规模粗放型向质量集约型转变、从增量扩能向做优存量调整。因为单纯依赖土地、劳动力、资金和管理效率等要素的“传统模式”,很难维持城市的可持续发展。在新背景下,大城市如何进一步发展,提升内涵与质量？文化动力模式作为一种新的发展路径,是对该问题的学术回应。文化动力中的“文化”,并不是指那种模糊的、抽象的、无所不包的文化,而是指那些与本地居民生活息息相关的生活文化设施、多样性组织、各种文化实践等构成的城市场景,以及场景中隐藏的自我表达、超凡魅力和时尚等价值观与生活方式。这些因素能对创意阶层产生吸引作用,并影响该群体的城市流动和新兴公司选址等。从这个角度来说,文化动力模式作为一种全新思维,重塑着城市发展与转型的后工业路径。     

论新《消费者权益保护法》规定的欺诈行为之认定

《中华人民共和国消费者权益保护法》(以下简称《消法》)自从1994年1月1日生效以来,就与人们的生活密切相关。本次修订因为规定了对经营者的惩罚性赔偿,所以备受人们瞩目。对于如何认定经营者的欺诈行为,消费者、经营者、欺诈三个词在此条中起着关键的作用,大量的争议也聚集在此三个关键词上。如果将其概念、范围用法律明确下来,那么此条解释和适用上的矛盾将会被很好的解决。     

新“消法”对消费者公益诉讼限制性适用之评析

2013年修订的《消费者权益保护法》增加了关于消费者公益诉讼制度的规定。立法者对该制度做了一系列规范性的限制。该规定在防止滥诉的同时,也在一定程度上限制了消费者公益诉讼功能的发挥,妨碍了消费者利益的有效救济。在此背景下,不妨考虑对消费者公益诉讼进行非规范性的限制,即通过完善传统的私益诉讼等其他救济路径,间接限制公益诉讼的适用。该做法既不影响公益诉讼的适用,又有利于其他维权方式的进一步完善,从而推动消费者维权制度的发展。     

中国宏观经济现状与发展态势分析

当前中国宏观经济随着产业结构调整和国有企业经济效益明显好转而出现稳步回升的势头，经济质量也出现新的转机。但我国城乡经济发展极不平衡，制约经济增长的结构性、制度性问题仍未得到根本解决，经济回升的基础还不够稳固。要将转机变为战略性转折，一方面，必须继续坚持扩大内需的扩张性政策，保持较高的经济增长速度；另一方面，必须探索和推动政治体制的改革和法律制度建设，以激发经济增长的内在动力，加快经济结构调整以促进制度创新，切实提高国民经济的整体质量和效益。     

“枪手代笔”的著作权问题与消费者利益保护

"枪手代笔"行为是否合法,关键看署名权的转移是否合法。实践中,当事方通常借助三种途径实现署名方式的转移:转让著作权、委托创作作品中的约定和署名权的行使。围绕着这三种行为的合法性,存在两种不同的观点:意思自治视角坚持可自由转移的立场,公共利益视角则反对这种转移。实际上,意思自治原则与公共利益理念结合起来才能够客观评判"枪手代笔"的合法性。更为重要的是,文化消费者的利益应该受到重视。署名权的转让、约定和行使,影响到文化消费者的知情权、选择权和公平交易权。为保障文化消费者的利益,建议著作权法规范署名方式,打击有损公共利益和消费者利益的"枪手代笔"行为。     

著作权正当性的危机与出路

在著作权利益集团主导的著作权体制下,著作权成为直接控制消费者的工具以及创作自由与网络技术发展的障碍,从而造成著作权侵权成为一种常态社会现象的危机。只有坚持每一种新生的著作权客体与权利都经过充分的正当性论证、构建以维护创作自由与网络技术发展以及不以消费者为直接控制对象的权利与权利限制制度,才能使已经发生或正在发生的对著作权正当性的偏离得到回归。     

The South African National Credit Act fails to protect homeowners against various interest rates hikes

Where a credit provider makes a proper financial assessment and finds that the low-income consumer will be able to satisfy in a timely manner all the obligations under all the credit agreements to which the consumer is a party he will in all probability conclude the credit agreement with the consumer. Obviously the affordability assessment made by the credit provider will depend on the prevailing interest rates at the time. There has been several interest rate hikes since June 2006 to December 2008 in South Africa that has had a detrimental impact on low-income home owners. Due to the various interest rate hikes and the prevailing high interest rates many consumers have lost their mortgaged homes. The South African National Credit Act of 2005 has failed to take into its purview cases such as these, and as a consequence there is no sort of consumer protection available for the low-income group who become over-indebted, because of the constant rising interest rates on their mortgage loans.     

论反垄断法的价值取向

随着我国《反垄断法》的颁布施行，正确认识其价值就具有很现实的意义。鉴于我国市场经济发展过程中存在的限制竞争问题，我国反垄断法的价值取向应包括保护自由竞每秩序、维护社会整体经济效益和保护消费者权益。