University of Warwick Press: Journals
Not a member yet
1080 research outputs found
Sort by
Ideological formation, national development, and the "mass line": The historical-political complexity of cultural policy and Chinese socialism
Get PDFThe subject of this article is the nexus of strategic political frameworks of the People\u27s Republic of China that have informed the evolution of national cultural policy. The article underscores how cultural policy always was, and has remained, a central official mechanism for both national economic development and not (as is assumed) the dissemination and inculcation of political ideology. This article therefore attempts to address what it perceives to be the limited depth of Western contemporary cultural policy research on China — and its research agenda otherwise hostile to China’s communist government. The article’s principle purpose is therefore to identify the conditions by which cultural policy emerged as a significant field of political thought, strategically used by central government for articulating its mission, values and aims within its broader political economy. The article argues that today, even without the possibility of China’s immanent conversion to Western liberal-style democracy, the enterprise of cultural policy can play a significant role in the country’s development. This possibility is not dependent upon Westernisation or Western influence in any form, but on what is one of the most established of communist doctrines, the doctrine of the “mass line”
Consumable Bodies, Consumable Self: The queer potential of otaku subjectivity in Kio Shimoku’s Genshiken
No full text‘Nerd’ is everywhere a lonely status, but queer identities and nonconforming gender expressions are especially socially isolating. This article examines the intersection of these two lonely identities, ‘nerd’ and ‘queer’, in Kio Shimoku’s manga Genshiken. Genshiken is a sort of roman-fleuve about a university otaku circle. One of the members, Hato, is a heterosexual male connoisseur of BL—homosexual ‘boy’s love’ amateur parody manga—who dresses as a woman. Rather than being doubly isolated for being both queer and a nerd, however, Hato finds that otaku culture is capable of accommodating his queerness. This paper argues that Genshiken proposes otaku subculture as a social space already equipped to accept nonconforming genders and sexualities due to its unique relationship with society and media. Hato represents the queer possibilities of otaku subjectivity, entangled as it is with late capitalist commodification. The aesthetic distance that—per Saitō Tamaki—otaku must maintain from the objects of their desire translates into an otaku acceptance of the aestheticisation of gender, which allows other otaku to accept Hato, alleviating rather than doubling his loneliness. Furthermore, for Hato this aesthetic distance becomes distance from his own gender and sexuality, allowing him to enjoy his own masculine body rendered into a consumable commodity in BL featuring himself
Contested Narratives of the Pandemic Crisis: The Far Right, Anti-Vaxxers and Freedom of Speech
Get PDFThis paper seeks to open a discussion about the role played by the extreme right within the contemporary ‘anti-vaxxer’ movement as it has developed during the recent Covid-19 pandemic. While supporters of this movement are politically diverse, we see the far right as having used the Covid crisis as a significant opportunity to place their conspiratorial narrative before a wider audience, where a rhetoric of victimisation around pandemic related restrictions masks their deep authoritarianism and profound racism and misogyny. We discuss ‘white replacement’ theory as the key idea animating the contemporary far right, in both its secular and religious manifestations, and we argue that this theory has offered the framework for the far right’s opposition to vaccinations and public health related restrictions. Throughout the pandemic, the far right’s use of conspiracy theory and calculated disinformation – particularly online – has thrown up considerable dilemmas in relation to issues of freedom of speech for progressives. We conclude by discussing how the feminist anti-racist left must continue to defend freedom of speech in the face of this, but this understanding needs to be informed by a conception of the ‘common good’
A New Theory of Human Rights: New Materialism and Zoroastrianism by Alison Assiter (Rowman & Littlefield, London 2021)
Get PDF‘The Fog that it has Drawn upon Itself’: Darfur and the future of the ICC
No full textThis paper will explore widespread criticism of the International Criminal Court (ICC), through the lens of its long-running investigation in Darfur, Sudan. Analysis of the Prosecutor’s reports on the Darfur investigation since 2005 reveals that the Court has often avoided engaging directly with its critics, and remains particularly reluctant to address accusations of internal structural bias. The ICC, in tandem with global media outlets, often characterises the Darfur conflict in simplistic terms, many of which originate in part from divisions that were introduced and sustained by colonial administrations. Although the ICC faces practical difficulties in enforcing its jurisdiction in Darfur, this paper argues that its problems of perception stem largely from the fact that it is the product of an international legal system whose normative home is the Global North. It is this systemic weakness that damages the ICC’s global legitimacy and prevents the courts from functioning as an effective and progressive arbiter of international law. This paper seeks to suggest a way forwards for the ICC in the form of a reciprocal system of jurisdiction with an African International Criminal Court, such as the fledgling ACJHR. A partnership on equal footing, with a mutual basis for resource-sharing and legal expertise, may be the most promising avenue towards ending global impunity
Crosses to Cullens: The Western Vampire from Gothic Predator to Romantic Icon
No full textAlthough the figure of the vampire in Western culture has undergone significant alterations from the nineteenth century to the modern day in terms of presentation, there has always existed a strain of latent sexual concern in their depictions. In earlier works, this sexuality was couched in a negative light, often incorporating themes of sexual assault, the violation of private spaces and dangerous, ‘tempting’ aspects of sexuality. This article will argue that, although there is continuity between early Gothic vampire fiction and modern vampiric paranormal romance in terms of their connection to sexuality, there has nevertheless been significant evolution in the manner in which that sexuality is approached, as it transforms from sexualised assault to a dangerous romance
Post-COVID Challenges for Incoming and Returning International Students
No full textThe article aims to highlight the unique challenges faced by international students who were pursuing education abroad during the COVID-19 pandemic. During this period, the two main obstacles faced by international students were acculturative stress due to lack of access to social support, and economic stress associated with job uncertainty. A literature review and evaluation of past government reports and news articles were used to identify the common challenges faced and to understand the importance of the experiences to inform application-based strategies in order to better support international students. The literature review indicates that developing programmes that allow international students to connect with current students from the same national/cultural background while also encouraging programmes or orientations that discuss issues specific to international students can provide a solid foundation that allows the students to explore their host country confidently. Furthermore, developing a dedicated careers team trained to understand the obstacles that international students face in seeking employment in the host country while also encouraging previous international students to share their insights and journeys can allow for students to initiate networking and also prepare to navigate the job market
The ‘Commodities Consensus’ and Valuation Languages in Latin America
Get PDFince Evo Morales’ arrival to the Palacio Quemado and the nomination of David Choquehuanca as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bolivian international policy has been marked by a rhetoric of environmentalism, defence of indigenous rights and cosmovisions, and the promotion of vivir bien (good living) as a new paradigm of development.This piece investigates the narratives that the actors of the mobilisations in 2003 — both in the urban context, in the city of El Alto, and in the countryside, in the province of Omasuyos — have enacted to explain their struggle. What sort of perspective(s) on development do they express in their accounts? How much of them can actually be related to a vivir bien formulation, which emphasises the importance of living in harmony with nature and with the community? By investigating these issues in people’s actual perception of their struggle, this piece attempts to cast light on processes that mediate between the empirical and the normative dimensions of development