Restraining Women: Gender, Sexuality and Modernity in Salvador da Bahia

Abstract — The paper explores constructions of masculinity and feminity in the speech and practice of residents of a low-income settlement in Salvador, Bahia. In local talk about sexual mores and parenting, the dominant theme is the 'liberal' and 'decadent' character of the modern age. Modernity is equated with a loss of social control over female sexuality and reproduction. Embedded in this vision is a powerful gender ideology that conditions the construction of gender identities. Analysis reveals that the negotiation of identity is a complex and contested field. But against the postmodernist trend in contemporary gender studies, the paper argues that it is necessary to locate multiple and contested gender identities in the overarching gender system. This is rooted in gender ideology, in sexual practice and in the systematic features of social and economic life. Far from signalling transformation in the gender system, talk about women's loss of restraint and respectability functions as a brake upon pressure for change.     

Work and Family Life among Migrant Factory Workers in China and Vietnam

ABSTRACT

Through on-site interviewing, a comparative study has been carried out about migrant factory workers in industrialised parts of China’s Guangdong province and in Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City. Even though China and Vietnam possess similar legacies of socialist transformation and have household registration regulations that restrict rural migrants’ access to urban social services and impede their settlement in cities, there exist marked differences in Guangdong and Ho Chi Minh City in migration patterns, factory work conditions and migrant worker family livelihoods. In particular, migrant families in Ho Chi Minh City largely stay intact and tend to settle there permanently, while married migrant workers in Guangdong normally need to split up their families and remain trapped in circular rural–urban migration. As shall be seen, the national and local governments play important roles in determining the inclusion or exclusion of migrants from urban life, the wages they are paid and their standard of living and, most important of all, their children’s access to education. Each of the two countries’ differences in implementing policies is examined and comparatively analysed.     

Fault,Gender Politics and Family Law Reform

Recent public debates about family law reform have revealed both support for and criticism of legislative policies that seek to shape social norms. Amidst this debate was a suggestion from some quarters that the Whitlam Government's removal of fault‐based divorce is responsible for the gendered tensions that characterise modern reform debates. This article draws on archival records and interviews conducted with family law professionals who worked in the system in the 1970s and experienced the transition to the no‐fault system, to explore the principles underlying the introduction of the Family Law Act of 1975 and to identify the sources of continuing dissension about its impact.     

India and Vietnam compared: Family planning and everyda ylife

Abstract

In India and Vietnam, as in North America, the term “family planning” refers mainly to birth control. There is, however, a broader sense in which this term may be used, namely governmental planning for the welfare and happiness of families, and for democracy and social justice among their members. In this sense family planning is very prominent in Vietnam, but largely absent in India. It is in this sense that I prefer to use the term, although I will first discuss birth control in the overall context of planning for the size of families, as well as for the nation's population growth.     

Introduction: Nation-building in China and Vietnam

This introduction explores the changing nature of Chinese and Vietnamese nation-building in the era of globalisation and specifically, transnationalism. The first part sets out a conceptual framework designed to put contemporary Chinese and Vietnamese nation-building in comparative, international perspective. The second part looks at the borders of nation-building from the point of view of diasporas living the nation-state, while the third part focuses on a series of trends working to reinterpret the nation from within.     

Past and Present: From Misunderstanding Sexuality to Misunderstanding Gender Identity in Australian Refugee Claims

This paper analyses the past and present treatment of people applying for asylum on the grounds of their sexual orientation in Australia. Despite having relatively progressive legislative measures for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) citizens, the treatment of refugees applying for refugee status based on their sexual orientation has historically been dogged by questionable and biased decision‐making. It is argued that early claims were initially plagued by a number of issues, notably the employment of discretion reasoning and errors in credibility assessment. The second section of this paper takes a deeper look at claims made in Australia between 2016 and mid‐2018 to assess whether there has been any improvement in decision‐making. It is argued that Australian decision‐making for sexual orientation‐based claims has demonstrably improved, encouraged by the introduction of new departmental guidelines for assessing such claims in 2016. However, it emerged in later claims that some decision‐makers continue to confuse sexuality and gender identity, demonstrating that issues remain for applicants in Australia. Ultimately, it is argued that in order to continue to improve decision‐making, the Australian Immigration Department and tribunals need to be more transparent about the development and implementation of decision‐making guidelines.     

日本企业加速对越南投资及越、中、泰投资环境的比较

迄今为止,日本企业对亚洲直接投资的头两个国家是中国和泰国.但是,近年日本企业不断加大对越南的投资力度.越南将成为继中国和泰国之后,日本企业在亚洲直接投资的最热对象国.本文结合中国、泰国的投资环境,探讨日本企业选择越南投资的原因,对其目前存在的问题进行对比研究,并展望其未来发展趋势.     

越南当代家庭及妇女地位的变迁

越南家庭随着社会经济的发展而出现新的结构变化,当代越南家庭以核心型家庭为主,并担当着经济、生育与健康保障和教育的职能.越南妇女在社会及家庭中发挥了重大作用,男女社会地位日趋平等.妇女地位的变化是越南社会生活在新时期发展进步的一个重要体现.     

China and Vietnam on the road to the market

Adopting an analytical approach grounded in the literature on the impact of industrial relations (IR) systems on foreign direct investment (FDI) decisions, this article assesses the workplace practices in Hong Kong-invested garment factories in the regulated IR system in Cambodia. Cambodia opened up FDI in 1993. The country has attracted FDI in light manufacturing, mainly in the export-orientated garment and footwear sectors. The USA is the largest trade partner of Cambodia in garment exports because of a unique agreement, US-Cambodia Trade Agreement on Textile and Apparel. The Agreement granted a quota for Cambodian garment export in return for better compliance with international labour standards. The trade agreement and private sector initiatives have combined to bring about a “labour advantage” in Cambodia. This labour advantage will continue to be its competitive edge in a post-Multifibre Agreement world, and other developing countries may well follow Cambodia's model.     

简论古代中越建筑技术交流

古代中越两国在建筑技术方面交流密切,古代中国的建筑技术传入越南,深刻地影响了越南的建筑风格。阮安参与明初北京城的设计,反映了越南具有高超的建筑技术,是古代越南人民对中国建筑业的贡献。建筑技术的交流是古代中越文化交流的一个重要方面。     

2012年越南政治、经济与外交综述

2012年是越南经济面临困难和挑战的一年。控制通胀和力保经济增长是越南经济工作的重点内容,但在成功控制通胀的同时,经济却出现了下滑,且面临着企业经营困难、银行坏账增多、商品库存压力加大等诸多问题。相比之下,外交工作有序展开并不断拓展,经济外交成为重点。政治、社会领域则继续保持相对稳定的局面。     

China–Africa Exports: Governance Through Mobility and Sojourning

ABSTRACT

A centre for Asian and intercontinental immigration and export-oriented production, Guangzhou city is at the forefront of China’s global interactions. Based on ethnographic fieldwork, this article examines informal governance mechanisms that co-ordinate the circulation of goods and capital between China and Africa. The question addressed is: What roles do mobility and sojourning play in governing trade relations? The analysis is informed by research from three fields: economics scholarship on the trade–migration nexus, ethnographic studies of informal trans-border trade, and historical accounts of long-distance trade in pre-colonial and colonial eras. These traditions point to different ways in which the mobility of people and goods are interlinked. In the case of China–Africa interactions, the flow of goods has increased in tandem with the number of visits by African itinerant traders. The empirical discussion demonstrates that the emergence of intercontinental movements of goods and people between China and Africa was predicated on the brokering role played by African sojourners in Guangzhou. Of particular importance was informal hospitality and logistics infrastructure set up by Africans in the late 1990s, which subsequently evolved and adapted. This infrastructure has facilitated the mobility of people and goods and increased the pace at which trading capital circulates.     

2014年越南政治、经济与外交综述

2014年,越南在经济领域取得相对较好的成绩,经济增长超出预定目标,连续三年实现贸易顺差,并创历史新高,且顺利完成控制通胀的任务,经济持续回暖。尽管仍存在着不少问题,但在当今世界经济普遍低迷的形势下,能取得这样的成绩实属不易。越南的政治发展基本稳定,但随着改革的深入,新的困难与挑战逐渐显露并考验着越共的执政能力。与中国的关系因南海争议陷入低谷。     

2010年越南:政治、经济与外交

2010年,越南政治持续稳定。经济仍保持较高的增长,并超过预期目标,但也存在不少问题,如反腐力度不够,各项改革有待深化;贸易逆差和高通胀等因素仍是困扰经济的主要问题。外交上则亮点突出,尤其是越南在担任东盟轮值主席国期间,取得了有目共睹的积极外交成果。     

厚植“中国之治”的文化根基:思想源流、现实理据与实践路径

文化立世,文化兴邦。文化是最基本、最深沉、最持久的力量。中华优秀传统文化、革命文化、社会主义先进文化以及人类的优秀文明成果如同源头活水一样,能够渗透到国家治理体系的每一个要素之中,发挥持久而又深远的影响力和感染力,为推进国家治理体系和治理能力现代化提供持续的滋养,是厚植“中国之治”的文化根基。在我国要迈入高质量发展关键...