Suchergebnisse

"Te voy a contar un secreto: Si he podido escribir es porque seguí tu consejo. ¿Quién, si no tú, podría ser ese 'Querido Diario' a quien le escribo? Cómo no imaginarme con la cabeza en tu pecho o en tus rodillas y contándote los detalles más precisos y perversos, los más divertidos, o los más dolorosos de mi florida vida"--Back cover

Purpose
This study aims to answer two questions: (a) what obstacles and opportunities do Chinese female entrepreneurs face when doing business? And (b) how do they negotiate their entrepreneurial careers and gender identities in different gender-segregated markets?


Design/methodology/approach
This study uses qualitative research methods of participant observation and in-depth interviews with 41 female entrepreneurs in China and the theoretical lenses of gender role theory and doing gender in entrepreneurship.


Findings
The study findings reveal that Chinese female entrepreneurs face different obstacles and opportunities in gender-segregated industries. Their experiences vary in industries that are mainly occupied by males and females. On the one hand, women in female-dominated industries may be supported by a feminine working environment that is coherent with their domestic roles. However, they may also be questioned on the cultural impurity implied in some industries, which harms their class-based feminine virtue. On the other hand, women in male-dominated industries may be challenged and marginalized due to their gender. However, some find ways to turn the disadvantaged feminine characters into favourable conditions and break out of the stereotypical gender constraints in doing business.


Originality/value
This study contributes to the literature on gender and entrepreneurship in general. More specifically, it contributes to the study of doing gender in gender-segregated markets, and it also illustrates women's gendered opportunities and constraints in Chinese society that are affected by the long-lasting traditional gender norms.

The article reveals the issues of multifaceted cooperation and development of China and Kazakhstan in the framework of the joint construction of "One Belt, One Road" and the economic policy of Kazakhstan "Nurly Zhol" ("Bright Road").Aim. Put forward proposals to promote the development of Kazakh-Chinese trade based on a study of the current situation in the development of Kazakh-Chinese relations and cooperation relations within the framework of the "One Belt, One Road" and an analysis of limiting factors.Tasks. Consider the key ideas underlying the two plans, identify the main scope and areas of cooperation, analyze the prospects for the implementation of the international cooperation project and the achievements achieved so far.Methods. To compare the practices of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the Nurly Zhol Plan, a comparative analysis method was adopted to identify the existing advantages and disadvantages of development. The method of bibliographic data analysis was also used in the article. By searching and studying scientific materials and works of domestic and foreign scientists, deepen the understanding of the impact and features of the One Belt, One Road initiative on Kazakhstan.Results. On the basis of specific achievements of cooperation, constructive proposals were put forward for the further development of Chinese-Kazakh cooperation. In order to smoothly promote cooperation between the construction of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the Bright Road, it is necessary to further improve common procedures and docking mechanisms, to fully use the communication capabilities of the SCO to promote economic cooperation.Conclusion. One Belt One Road and Nurly Zhol have achieved strong complementarity. The cooperation between them has satisfied the development needs of Kazakhstan and China. But the security of cooperation requires serious attention. China, Kazakhstan, and even the countries of Central Asia should jointly raise security awareness and deepen cooperation in non-traditional security areas within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and deepen the connection between the SCO and other regional security mechanisms.

E-commerce platforms have promoted the rise of consumer-demand-driven supply chains in the garment industry. This kind of supply chain has raised the demand for a new type of production organisation exemplified by low processing costs, small batches, multi-varieties, and quick reorders. Drawing on the insights of flexible specialisation theory, this paper proposes the concept of e-platform-driven flexible specialisation to describe this emerging production organisation form. This flexible specialisation is characterised by highly fragmented and informal production organisations such as husband-and-wife-run workshops and production units based on daily wage workers. In the context of a severe labour shortage in the garment industry, workers participate in the construction of these informal production organisations in order to obtain higher wages and work autonomy. However, the increase in informal employment also makes garment workers more atomised and vulnerable to social risks such as the outbreak of COVID-19. It is necessary to innovate labour relation negotiation modes to cope with the impacts of the rise of the platform economy on labour relations. (China Perspect/GIGA)

Legitimacy Challenges of Intermediary Gatekeeping in the Chinese Internet Regulatory System In the Chinese legal and political framework, in order for the government to maintain control over information posted on social media platforms, commercial internet intermediaries are assigned the role of co-regulators to actively participate in content censorship and surveillance. In the literature concerning internet censorship and internet regulation in China, scholars dedicate a lot of their attention to analyzing the government's policies and the general cooperation between the Chinese government and ICT companies, especially in regards to enforcing censorship. This research suggests that, once we zoom in on specific gatekeeping processes, there are more nuanced interrelationships between government policies and private gatekeeping practices, as well as between different types of gatekeepers and individuals. The output of such intermediary gatekeeping, as analyzed through two empirical case studies, does not fully align with the government standards, private gatekeeping creates a breach in the government's censorship and surveillance policies. Both cooperation as well as tensions exist in this regard. Agreement, disagreement, mutual shaping, and even the disobedience of government rules and generation of alternative standards by private gatekeepers occur throughout intermediary gatekeeping processes. As a result, the dilemma of the substantive legitimacy of intermediary gatekeeping is that private gatekeepers have to rewrite or negotiate the standards set by government for the online gatekeeping practices in order to gain legitimacy from the end user community. Significantly, private actors on the Chinese internet, from commercial gatekeepers to grassroots end-users, manage to find a reasonable modus vivendi, to preserve a certain scope of internet freedom. Moreover, the traditional Chinese values, which may suggest a typically Chinese understanding of power and authority, as well as of rights and freedoms, mitigate some of the challenges to legitimacy of the Chinese internet regulations. Considering both the formal and substantive legitimacy deficit of the government rules and regulations, a relative "hands-off" approach towards internet governance is better than direct legal and administrative interventions. Social media platforms provide a new online public space for the deliberation of public issues and to formulate participatory self-regulation in interest groups, and for sub-cultural communities to exercise regulatory participation and deliberation. In this sense, traditional Chinese values can be a local cultural soil for cultivating the public culture of participation and deliberation on the Chinese internet.

The aim of this study is to identify needs for recovery from people's perspectives under a localized context following the 2015 earthquake in Nepal. A qualitative approach was applied to collecting and processing data which consist of 114 semi-structured interviews with earthquake-resettled households, six focus group discussions, interviews with community leaders and government officials, and participant observations. Data suggest that recovery needs at local communities are sustainable because the affected population is more concerned about productive living and development issues rather than physical reconstruction. While building new houses appears to be the most urgent task, people wish to have permanent ownership of land at a different place for reconstruction, and to gain employability for overseas job-hunting. These needs are interlinked, and the interlinkage is manifested in the reliance on the central authority to take action. These findings imply that comprehensive recovery from the earthquake calls for reconstruction in multiple sectors.