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Things China Working Group: Junyi Lv on "Mapping out Communitainment 3.0 in China: Livestreaming Platforms & Creative Labors"

Things China Working Group is an informal group to explore research interest in the material networks, systems, economies, media and practices of communication pursued within China or between China and its national and international partnerships. Open only to USC graduate students and faculty. 

 

When:
October 17, 2017 11:00am to 12:00pm
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Things China Working Group is an informal group, in partnership with the USC U.S.-China Institute. We meet on Tuesdays from 11 am to noon in the seminar room at the USC U.S.-China Institute, Annenberg School—ASC G24
 
We have initial presentation and discussion sessions confirmed. We are open to proposals from any graduate student or faculty member who is pursuing research on China. Things China signals research interest in the material networks, systems, economies, media and practices of communication pursued within China or between China and its national and international partnerships. Each session will feature an introduction to an undergoing research project and discussion of resources, problems and opportunities for continuing the work. Things China invites transdisciplinary projects and collaborations. Contact Prof. Goodnight (gtg@usc.edu) if you are interested in presenting at an upcoming session.
 
Please contact the USC U.S.-China Institute if you wish to join the discussion (uschina@usc.edu). Open only to USC graduate students and faculty.

THINGS CHINA MEETING TUESDAYS 11:00 TO 12:00 IN ASC G24
 
September 12—Goodnight, Tom
Green Public Culture in China
The talk rehearses the notion of Green Public Culture in China as a network, market, movement relationships where dissent invents third way spaces to work with, monitor, intervene, and push for environmental change. The notion of smart communication as simultaneous collaboration and contestation is presented. Case studies of online activist episodes are presented.
 
September 19—Lee, Ben
USC work with Shanghai Jiaotong University
USC has entered into a relationship with scholars in Shanghai in the study of media communication. Ben Lee lead a group of researchers to Jeong Tao last spring and established a number of continuing research projects among scholars from both institutions. In this session, he will speak to studies under way and the possible future of the relationship, particularly for the academic year 2017-2018.
 
Professional Publics: Communicating Healthcare Reform in Chinese Civil Society
What does professionals in China mean for Chinese politics and civil society? If the Chinese professionals engage with civil society and public deliberations, how would they do so, for what purposes/interests, and with what effects? Particularly, how would Chinese professionals communicate, formulate their identities, pursuits and negotiations, and to whom, in what style and means? What are their relationship and dynamics with different social groups? And eventually, how would such a study on professionals’ political communication in Chinese civil society benefit our knowledge about political culture in China and political communication in general?
 
Agricultural Informatization, the Political Economy, and Rural Power Dynamics in China
My project focuses on how information technologies are socially shaped and how they are exerting social impact on local power dynamics. Through a comparative study, I am attempting to argue that different social configurations have witnessed the rise of different ways of employing information technologies, which have influenced the relations among different social groups: small farmers, agribusiness, technology providers, bureaucrats, and so forth. It tries to highlight the changing nature of the agriculture sector: it is increasingly globalized, digitalized, commercialized, and networked.
 
Applying A Gendered Lens to Climate Change-Migration Nexus: A Case Study of Forced Environmental Migration on Tibetan Plateau
This paper proposes frameworks to analyze the gender dimensions of climate change-induced migration. The experiences, needs and priorities of climate migrants will vary by gender and these differences need to be accounted for if policies are to be inclusive. Among the vulnerable groups, women are likely to be disproportionately affected due to climate change because, on average, women tend to be poorer, less educated, have a lower health status and have limited direct access to or ownership of natural resources. Both the process (actual movement) and the outcomes (rural–urban migration in the case of Tibetan Plateau) of climate change-induced migration are also likely to be highly gendered. Moreover, women are not only vulnerable to climate change but they are also effective actors or agents of change in relation to both mitigation and adaptation. It is thus important to identify gender-sensitive strategies to respond to the environmental and humanitarian crises caused by climate change.
 
October 17—Lv, Junyi
Mapping out Communitainment 3.0 in China: Livestreaming Platforms & Creative Labors
Press named the year 2016 as “the year of livestreaming”. In 2016, more than two hundred livestreaming platforms formed a market worth 20.8 billion RMB in China, the increasing rate was 180 percent. Online livestreaming not only displays a rapid economic growth but also differs from the existing media texts and objects. This project conducted online research as well as a round of original field work, interrogating the following questions: How is Live CSME (Chinese Social Media Entertainment or Communitainment) different from prior CSME? How are the platforms differentiated by features, management, and affordance? How are the creators differentiated by types, labor, and practice?
 
Green Belt Europe. Inquiries into Travel, Nature & Ruins
The European Green Belt represents an effort to bring together peoples of different nations in an experience of their commonality. The research examines how a “belt” or network of roadways is assembled by an assortment of major and minor states which connect the material resources of a biome, natural and human engineered into sites for viewing, talking, and traveling. Beltways and identity formation is discussed in the context of communication and mobility.
 
The New Silk Road, A Conversation: China, Development, and East Africa
This is a collaborative session where the group takes up China’s “One Belt, One Road,” initiative in the context of the “New Silk Road.” How do the multiple strategies at work on African and other postcolonial initiatives pose research questions for the study of information, communication, and practice? The group will discuss “knowledge pockets” generally and China’s approach to resourcing local areas for development.
 
November 7, 14, 21
Open to New Presentations. You are invited to attend and discuss your work.
Phone Number: 
213-821-4382