Sun Huan http://sunhuan.org research interest and course work Wed, 22 Feb 2012 06:29:35 +0000 en hourly 1 Resource Mobilization Theory http://sunhuan.org/http:/itujia.sunhuan.org http://sunhuan.org/http:/itujia.sunhuan.org#comments Wed, 22 Feb 2012 06:29:35 +0000 admin http://sunhuan.org/?p=296 more]]> Looking at the three articles we could clearly see the shift of perspectives on understanding the social movements. Le Bon’s approach of social psychology to define the rise of collective actions was replaced by the theories of resource mobilization, political processes and political opportunity structures in the 1970s. In the article by McCarthy and Zald, we are directed to the area of social movement sector, where individuals, organizations and structures are carefully defined. For them the rise and fall of movements are no longer simply determined by the shared grievances and generalized beliefs, but rather largely influenced by the social resources of organizations, interactions among different players and structured opportunities. Then in Sampedro’s work, he presents us a mixed model using a case of anti-military draft campaigns in Spain to frame the social movement between models of the elite dominated media and media with plural voices.

The three studies reside in different level of studies and they are not necessarily in conflict with each other. If we think of movements generated by social emotions we could always find cases such as riots in which ordinary people turn into evils ignited by hatred. At the same time the institutionalized movements in democratic western countries are good examples of the resource mobilization theory. Then if we set the model of resource mobilization in motion, which means to examine the movements across a long period of time, we could come up with new insights to challenge the hypotheses made by the resource mobilization model. However, actually I only appreciate Sampedro’s approach to counter the static model by introducing historical perspective, and it is still doubtful to what extent his mixed model could apply to more various societies that are not experiencing a larger social change such as democratic transition or with the media environment where mass media is not practiced based on the rules of sensation.

In McCarthy and Zald’s article, they pointed out their limitations of their hypotheses, “The propositions are heavily based upon the American case, so that the impact of societal differences in development and political structure on social movements is unexplored, as are differences in levels and types of mass communication.”(p.1213). As a student from China, I often bear the assumption that the political context is a strong counter-argument to respond to any theories developed based on western societies. But this assumption could be also problematic that I might be blind to the shared factors.

If I break the assumption for a moment, I find the resource mobilization theory could be powerful to explain the emerging nonprofit sector in China. The area of charity and voluntary sector have a higher level of institutionalization than some social movements that directly challenge the official ideologies in this authoritarian country. Their practices such as providing social services to the underprivileged groups are mostly routinized, and within this field large number of professionals work for registered organizations and rightfully resist structured inequalities. If we take a closer look, the rules to succeed in the nonprofit sector are as competitive as other commercial industries such as seeking resources and promoting themselves in media.

Too many times when we think of democracy in China, the first impression always falls to the spontaneous events of conflicts repetitively reported in the media and it is mixed with people’s ideal expectation of a radical transition. What is neglected here is to share part of our attention to the routinized actions that might enable social movement industries to emerge and eventually challenge the society where only dominant values could reproduce.

]]> http://sunhuan.org/http:/itujia.sunhuan.org/feed 0 New Media as Power-laden Space http://sunhuan.org/http:/itujia.sunhuan.org http://sunhuan.org/http:/itujia.sunhuan.org#comments Wed, 15 Feb 2012 04:34:33 +0000 admin http://sunhuan.org/?p=294 more]]>

I am particularly intrigued by Manuel Castells’s analysis on the media as the space where powers are contested. As stated in his article, shaping the minds of the people is critical to the state as well as other power institutions, and “the battle of the human mind in largely played out in the process of communication.” With the rise of new ICTs the battle field has shifted to the “mass self-communication network”, which has created new opportunities for social movement actors to challenge the existing institutions of power. Although I agree with his general claim that directs our attention to the new space enabled by digital media, we should also be conscious that battle in the new field does not naturally favors rebellious individuals. Extant power holders in traditional media system still have its own voices in the new space, and empowered social movements still have to fight for their interests and values to be addressed.

I find his argument that frames the media as the power laden context is illuminating when I think of my own thesis. The topic I intend to pursue is to examine the media strategy of Chinese activists in this “self-communication network” society. Admittedly, the rising of the network society has included voices of activists that were rarely to be found in party controlled newspapers and televisions, but this process has also invited a diversity of voices with distinctive agendas into the field. In Chinese media ecosystem, state controlled media represent the extended power from the government, and also at the same time the media has its own commercial identities which tend to seek eye-catching news. Since the administrative system of China is built on a design of restrained power between the central government and local governments, the media accountable to these different levels of government are distinctive when their interests are in conflict with each other. Also the popularity of blogging and micro-blogging services has brought many opinion leaders into the public space, and in fact their opinions are quite fragmented by their own ideologies. Another source of media in Chinese context is the international news agencies, whose editorial strategies are not completely objective either. In this complicated media ecosystem, a battle of powers to shape the minds of people is on.

For Chinese social movements actors, identifying the powers in the media environment is decisively important. One of the features of the contentious politics in rural China is coined as “rightful resistance” by Kevin O’Brien, which refers to the strategies adopted by activists that align themselves with the official rhetoric to avoid serious crackdown from the authority. This tactic channels the power from the higher government to restrain the local government whom they have direct conflict with. In the space of media, the powers are contested in a similar model that activists position themselves as pro communist party in their own media platforms as well as through the interactions with other media. For example, they would call for foreign journalists not to use words like revolt to describe their movement to justify their legitimacy. This form of contention effectively places them into a safe zone, while maintaining its nature of resistance.

What makes the media space complicated is perhaps the noises directly brought by netizens who participate in the discussion of these movements. Once the movements are brought into posts in online forums, micro-blogs, and social networking sites, we can often find opinion leaders impose much of their own ideologies to interpret the movements, no matter it is pro-democracy or not. But not much study has been done to analyze the political bias in newer media such as Weibo and see how it differentiates from newspapers. It will be very helpful for us to find the evidence to support the theory of the powers in battle to shape minds of people.

]]> http://sunhuan.org/http:/itujia.sunhuan.org/feed 0 Is Knowledge Power http://sunhuan.org/http:/itujia.sunhuan.org http://sunhuan.org/http:/itujia.sunhuan.org#comments Mon, 13 Feb 2012 02:32:47 +0000 admin http://sunhuan.org/?p=292 more]]> Langdon Winner questioned the metaphor of revolution which leads to the belief that the new technology itself will automatically bring about significant social change. Especially he challenged the common premises: (1) people are bereft of information; (2) information is knowledge; (3) knowledge is power; (4) the increasing access to information enhances democracy and equalizes social power. His article was published in 1986 and actually the debate of whether increased availability of information on the Internet could strengthen democracy was still prevalent in the past ten years or so. I think one of the reasons for the ambiguities of this kind of debate is that questions asked are not in clear categories. Admittedly, he made some convincing arguments to emphasize the importance of social inequalities to restrain the possibilities of people to process the amount of information. But looking back at his questions asked in the beginning of his article, I find he actually did not clearly define what aspects of better human life/social justice/human freedom he would focus on, and in fact his argument against the causal relationship between information and democratic forces sometimes shifted to critics of the Internet as a whole. For example, in the later part of the article, he mentioned the potentialities of declined human sociability on the Internet, which makes me think of the general pessimistic side of this new technology instead of enlightening me to examine the nuances between knowledge and power. I guess my critic might not be fair enough for an article written in the beginning stage of a new technology and his voice at his time could be really astonishing and impressive. But reading more recent articles on the discussion of this democratic potential of new ICTs I find that reviewing literature divided into two arguments (pessimistic and optimistic) is far from sufficient, and sub-sets of questions in clear categories should be asked. For example, studies on information flow across platforms should not be mixed with studies on social interactions of users. Therefore these studies can be in direct dialogue instead of arguing for a general question with distinctive answers.

]]> http://sunhuan.org/http:/itujia.sunhuan.org/feed 0 咱们工人有力量 Power of Workers http://sunhuan.org/http:/itujia.sunhuan.org http://sunhuan.org/http:/itujia.sunhuan.org#comments Mon, 06 Feb 2012 05:06:44 +0000 admin http://sunhuan.org/?p=289 more]]> 可能很多组织（比如国际基金会）虽然帮助草根，但是却没有把草根放到平等的位置上，所以社会普遍对草根的印象还是同情和弱势的。但是，孙恒做的事情真正发挥了草根的能量，文章中写“他们所做的就是创造自己的文化话语权，从政治、知识、文化等角度去影响社会了解并接受打工者这个群体。”，他们挑战的是对草根的刻板印象，同时借助了官方的意识形态，创造了自己的话语权。
http://www.chinadevelopmentbrief.cn/?p=523
Gingko Partner Interview: Sun Heng
Posted on December 6, 2011 by admin 182 views
Introduction: This article profiles Sun Heng, an emerging NGO and community leader. Sun is founder of Migrant Worker’s Home, an organization that could be called a NGO or social enterprise because it incorporates a business model for earning income to sustain and expand its operations in pursuit of its mission to create a community for migrant workers…..
Wang Hui, CDB Staff Writer
China Development Brief, no.49 (Spring 2011)
Translated by Eric Couillard
Reviewed by David Murphy
…..Migrant Worker’s Home is one of a growing number of NGOs devoted to helping China’s vast “floating population” of migrant workers which is estimated around 150-200 million, depending on the source being cited. China’s migrant workers were runner-up to Ben Bernanke, the U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman, for Time’s Person of the Year in 2009 and have been a major factor behind China’s economic boom.
For those who can read Chinese, this article also provides a window into the changing Chinese lexicon for migrant workers. We use the English term “migrant worker” which does not capture the various permutations used in the original Chinese. Instead of the older term “floating population” (liudong renkou), they are referred to throughout this article as “nongmin gong” (agricultural workers), “dagongzhe” (manual laborers) and “gongyou” (worker friends).
Editor’s note
In 2010 the Narada Foundation (南都公益基金会) started the pilot program of “The Gingko Partner Support Plan” (“银杏伙伴支持计划). Selected Gingko Partners receive 100,000 RMB every year for three years as well as specially tailored learning plans. China Development Brief interviewed four of these partners in hopes of sharing their personal and organizational growth history, as well as giving follow-up information about each individual’s plans for using this support.
Sun Heng: Continuing the Search with the Migrant Worker’s Home
Up until 1998, Sun Heng was a music teacher in his home province, Henan. In order to pursue his musical dreams, he moved to Beijing. This was a perplexing time in his life; how would he survive in this city, let alone find meaning in his life?
In 1999, while Sun was working as a performing artist, he came across the migrant worker children’s school, Mingyuan Elementary, and started volunteering there. While at the school, he worked with volunteers from all over the country. In 2001, he took a trip to a construction site near the Tianjin University of Science and Technology and performed for local workers. His audience received him enthusiastically, and found that they could identify with his music. He was disturbed by how the migrant workers worked hard all day, but had few opportunities to enjoy their free time. He decided to gather a group of like-minded individuals from all over the country and start a performance group. Sun continued working days at Mingyuan, and nights, weekends, and holidays rehearsing for performances.
On Labor Day 2002, his performance group officially established a migrant worker art society (打工艺术团). At the time the art society would accept anyone: many college students signed up, but there was also a large number of migrant workers. Its main goal was to enrich people’s lives outside of work while the search went on for a more suitable location. Sun had noticed how many of the workers were not getting paid, and how their children had to attend low-grade schools. He often felt hopeless, awkward, and depressed: “As soon as we’re done singing, everyone returns to their poverty. Their lives haven’t changed at all.”
At the same time, he also realized that once migrant workers come to the city, they lose their social network and have to rely completely on themselves; this is an extremely arduous process. Why not create a “family,” so that outsiders can help each other?
Hence, the migrant worker art society took it to the next level, and the Migrant Workers Home (工友之家) was born. On November 1st of that year, they established a library to train workers in computers and labor law at Mingyuan Elementary. These activities continued until 2004. Sun and the art society recorded an album sung by the migrant workers themselves, called “The Workers of the World are All One Family.” It was a great success, selling over 100,000 copies and bringing in 75,000 RMB in royalties.
How was this money used? Sun agreed to spend it on the organization, but wanted to make sure the money was put to good use. Recognizing that migrant workers’ children lacked access to schooling, they decided to start their own school. It was to be situated in Chaoyang district’s Jingzhan township’s Pi village at the site of an abandoned arts and crafts plant, which they rented at 60,000 RMB per year. In the summer of 2005, Sun and more than a hundred volunteers from all over the country cleared the area and transformed it into the “One Heart Experimental” school (“同心实验”学校). This migrant worker school currently serves all children from preschool until the sixth grade. Sun recalls, “Looking back on it, I had no idea how hard it would be to run a school.” [Editor’s Note: A growing number of migrant workers are bringing their families with them to the city, but find their children cannot attend public schools because their household registration (hukou) is based in the village or town where they came from. Generally only families with a hukou in the city can send their children to public schools. Over the last decade, the government has gradually opened up public schools in major cities to migrant children, but many are still not able to get in for various reasons.   As a result, many migrant families send their children to private schools, such as the one set up by Sun Heng. These schools, however, fall below the standard of public schools in terms of their facilities and staff. There are also very few private schools for middle school students and almost no private schools for high school students. As a result, many older migrant children must either quit school or return back to their hometown if they want to continue their education and prepare for the college entrance examination.]
With this new base of operation, Sun wanted to create a residential area and gathering space for migrant workers. He discovered that in modern society, there are plenty of useful resources lying idle and many who could make use of them. In 2006, the Migrant Workers Home opened a second-hand store (同心互惠商店) as a way of cleaning up unused goods and reselling them, providing affordable products to people living in the area. These second-hand goods consist mainly of clothes and are typically sold for under ten RMB.
Today, the second-hand store has expanded to seven locations, two of which are in Pi Village, and even one store in Xi’an. Currently the Pi Village stores have eight employees who keep things running smoothly. Sun stated that in 2010 the store’s income reached 300,000 RMB, with over 50,000 RMB in profit. Resources from the store were used in the residential area and school to save over one million RMB, and the store also serves as the sole livelihood for its eight employees.
On Labor Day 2008, the Migrant Workers Home established a migrant workers art museum (打工艺术博物馆) in Pi Village to exhibit the lives and experiences of workers since 1978. Sun stated that the purpose of founding this museum was to “record the history of migrant workers, and advocate for their respect.” Since ancient times, workers have been the driving force behind history, but have been left out of the history books. Similarly, in the thirty years since the reform era began, the contribution of migrant workers has been enormous, while their recognition has been miniscule.
The Migrant Workers Home has been called by Sun, “a new workers’ community.” He hopes that by advocating for greater respect for migrant workers, prejudice towards them will diminish. The way Sun sees it, the most important reason for recording the stories of the countless migrant workers is to change history. What they are doing is creating their own cultural codes, and changing society’s image of this group from a political, intellectual, and cultural perspective.
Sun remarked that he wasn’t particularly affected by his selection for Ginko’s program. He understands, however, that the power of the program lies in its focus on individual support rather than on the level of program or organizational support. He has said that after being chosen as a Gingko partner, his life will not change much. Since many of his workers earn less than 2000 RMB a month, he refuses to use the Gingko funds to pay himself the considerably higher salary suggested by the foundation. Instead, he plans to use the money to subsidize other programs which have yet to find stable funding sources.
These past few years, the Migrant Workers Home has toiled along humbly. Its programs have increased in number as it has developed, so the organization must strengthen its management and figure out how to develop its social enterprise. Sun hopes that during his period as a Gingko partner, he will have many opportunities to go out and learn about other organizations, in order to broaden his field of view. These opportunities will prove invaluable for his organization.
When asked what he thinks about how Gingko partners will be treated in the next three to five years, Sun responded that these community leaders are not created by the Gingko Plan, but rather “the development of such people started long before they were selected by Gingko; on what grounds could you say that all their success is due to Gingko? That wouldn’t be fair.”   However, he is enthusiastic about the benefits he has received from Gingko: thinking about the future of his organization, he plans to study community organization, construction, and workers’ social movements­.
In the residential zone of Pi Village, the walls are draped with posters of Che Guevara. Sun is a big fan, hoping to bring Guevara’s spirit to Chinese soil. He hopes that through Gingko’s support, he can travel to the sites of Latin American revolution, such as Bolivia and Cuba, and even some European and American countries to learn about their labor movements, as well as its relationship with corporations and society.
In Sun’s mind, societal change is a long-term process, and his next three years are just one stage. He’s aware that after reflecting on his anticipated experiences abroad, it will be no small task to find out how to apply them in a new environment.  In 2010, the Migrant Workers Home founded the One Heart Innovation Training Center (同心创业培训中心), beginning yet another new experiment. He hopes that in the future he can help similar organizations to develop.
According to Sun, “once you’ve got influence, you should use it to support others. Eventually, more and more people will start to participate, and real change starts.”
银杏伙伴访谈: 孙恒
王辉
中国发展简报2011春季刊第49卷
编者按
2010年南都公益基金会试点“银杏伙伴支持计划”，入选的银杏伙伴在未来的3年内，将获得每人每年10万元的经费和量体裁衣的学习计划支持。 该年共有5名NGO人才入选。 《中国发展简报》采访到其中4位，希望透过此组文章与各位分享他们的个人和机构成长经历，并借此及时跟进了解他们的个人支持计划。
孙恒：继续找寻工友之家的方向
1998年前，孙恒一直在河南老家当音乐老师。 后来他为了寻求音乐的梦想，1998年来到北京。 当时，他曾感到迷茫，如何在这个城市生存找到自己的意义。
1999年，孙恒在弹唱的同时接触到打工子弟明圆学校，成为这个学校的志愿者。 同时，他接触到来自全国各地的工友。 在2001年一次去给天津科技大学附近的建筑工地的工友演出，效果非常好，工友们反响很强烈，对他的演出很认同。 他感到，工友平日工作很累，但也需要精神生活。 后来他与一帮志同道合的来自全国各地的工友们组建了一个演出队。 就这样，孙恒白天在明圆工作，晚上或节假日和其他工友一道排练演出。
到了2002年的劳动节那天，他们正式组建了打工艺术团。 当时艺术团的门槛很低，什么人都可以来，也有很多大学生报名参加，但流动性也很大。 这个时期，艺术团基本上还是自娱自乐，主要是为了丰富大家的业余生活。 与此同时，艺术团也在寻找新的定位，而这跟当时的工友需求有很大关联。 孙恒回忆，当时对工友遭遇的工资拖欠、外来孩子没有学上等具体问题都没有介入，自己常常感到无奈、尴尬和郁闷，心想“我们唱完歌就走了，他们的生活仍没有改变，依旧如此。”
同时，孙恒也发现，这些外来务工人员进入城市后，失去了原有的社会支持网络，只能以个人之力来融入社会，这个过程非常艰难。 为何不成立一个“家”，让来到异乡的人们有所帮助呢？
于是打工艺术团重新做了定位，工友之家应运而生。 在当年的11月1日，工友之家在肖家河的明圆打工子弟学校成立了图书馆、为打工者培训电脑和法律知识。 活动就这样持续到2004年。 孙恒和打工青年艺术团录制并发行了一张打工者自己唱的歌曲——《天下打工是一家》。 这张专辑最终发行了10万张，获得极大的成功，同时也为他们带来了7.5万元的版税。
而这笔钱如何使用？ 孙恒同意内部花掉，但一定要用到刀刃上。 看到当时很多来京的务工人员的孩子没有学上的现状，他们在朝阳区金盏乡皮村租了一块地，年租金6万元，举办一所学校。 这个地方原来是一个废弃的工艺美术厂。 2005年暑假，孙恒和来自全国各地的100多个志愿者，对这块地进行了清理，改造为后来的“同心实验”学校。 这所打工子弟学校目前从学前班到小学六年级一应俱全。 孙恒后来想想“也挺后怕的，自己并不知道办一个学校是很难的。”
有了这个新的根据地，孙恒还想把这里打造成一个外来务工人员聚集居住的社区。 他发现社会上有很多闲置的资源，另一方面也有很多非常需要这类资源的人群，2006年，工友之家开办一个二手商店（同心互惠商店）来处理这些闲置资源，帮助生活在社区里的工友降低生活成本。 这些二手资源主要是衣物，以低于10元的价格对外售卖。
如今二手商店已做大了规模，开始往社会企业方向发展，数量上已经扩展至7家，光在皮村就有两家，此外在西安也有一家。 目前皮村负责二手店的8个人分工明确，经营有序。 孙恒说，2010年收入达到了30万，盈余有5万多，为社区工友降低生活成本100万元，二手店在惠及社区内打工者的同时，也成为8名员工的生计来源。
2008年5月劳动节当天，工友之家在皮村建立了打工艺术博物馆，反映1978年以来打工群体的生活和工作状态。 孙恒说，建立博物馆背后的初衷是，“记录打工文化历史，倡导劳动价值尊重”。 自古以来劳动人民创造者历史，但他们却进入不了历史。 同样，改革30年来，打工者群体为社会做出了巨大的贡献，但并没有被记录进历史。
外来务工人群被孙恒称之为“新工人群体”。 工友之家希望通过此举倡导社会对劳动者的尊重，不要对“农民工”群体存有歧视。 其实在孙恒来看，记录这些历史，最终就是为了改变历史。 而他们所做的就是创造自己的文化话语权，从政治、知识、文化等角度去影响社会了解并接受打工者这个群体。
对入选银杏计划，孙恒表示“自己并不是特别在意”，不过他认为计划的意义在于：相比其他的支持性项目侧重在机构层面，银杏计划侧重在个人支持方面。 孙恒说，入选后自己的生活状况应该不会有太大的改观，原因在于如果和他一起工作的同事们依然拿着不到2000元的工资，自己却拿着基金会建议的薪资水平，这让自己也看不过去。 另外，这也会使以后的工作难于开展。 他会将这部分费用补贴到其他未能找到资源支持的项目上去。
这些年来，工友之家一直都是低头做事，随着发展，项目多了起来，所以还要加强内部管理，学习如何做社会企业。 孙恒希望在银杏伙伴资助期间，可以有机会出去学习考察，开阔自己的视野。 这些机会和工友之家的工作是分不开的。
问及孙恒如何看银杏伙伴对受助者在未来3～5年的期待，孙恒回应，公益人才并不是银杏计划催生出来的，因为“这些公益人才的成长已经经过了好些年的培育，凭什么都说是你起的作用，这不公平。”不过，孙恒很认同银杏计划对自己的益处：推动自己对未来3年进行了系统规划，他安排了自己的读书计划，要学习社区组织建设和工人社会运动的知识，并考虑机构未来的发展方向。
在皮村的住处，墙面上张贴着切 ・ 格瓦拉的肖像海报。 孙恒很喜欢切·格瓦拉，愿意追随他的精神在中国本土做事情。 他希望利用银杏伙伴的个人支持计划，可以去拉美的革命圣地如玻利维亚、古巴等国，以及欧美一些国家，了解这些国家的工人运动历史以及欧洲社会企业的相关发展情况，而这些从书本上是不大容易学习和感受到的。
对孙恒来说，社区改变是一件非常长远的事情。 3年，只是他自己的阶段性目标。 他也意识到，要去反思和总结工作中获取的经验，思考如何运用到新的环境中。 2010年，工友之家还设立了同心创业培训中心，开始了新的尝试。 他希望工友之家在未来能够推动各地同类机构的培训工作，以及支持其他组织发展。
“当你有力量的时候，应该去支持更多的人，总有一天，会有越来越多的人参与进来，推动改变。”孙恒说
]]> http://sunhuan.org/http:/itujia.sunhuan.org/feed 0 转载：「我在中国」（Co-China）论坛第二十三期——「解剖」乌坎 http://sunhuan.org/http:/itujia.sunhuan.org http://sunhuan.org/http:/itujia.sunhuan.org#comments Sat, 14 Jan 2012 09:13:05 +0000 admin http://sunhuan.org/?p=284 more]]> 在网上看到这个活动：

乌坎村在抗争中获得了与公权力博弈的筹码，足以成为一个可供研究和讨论的范本。乌坎的抗争能否持续？这种抗争模式对其他的村庄维权是否有借鉴意义？本期论坛我们邀请了一直关注乌坎事件并多次进行深入报道的记者张洁平，关注大陆基层民主和乡村自治的学者叶荫聪和大家一起讨论乌坎的抗争模式。

讲者：

张洁平：《阳光时务》主笔，乌坎事件后三次到乌坎，发表《乌坎起事》、《呼啸村庄——乌坎的死亡与反抗》、《乌坎村：社会运动的乡村范本》、《乌坎热血青年团》 、《薛健婉口述》等文章。

叶荫聪：岭南大学文化研究系讲师，关注中国基层民主和乡村自治，乌坎事件之后发表文章《传统复兴？——对乌坎村的一些观察》。

时间：1月14日（周六）15：00——17：00

地点：湾仔轩尼诗道365号富德楼9F香港独立媒体

视频直播： https://cochina.org/视频直播

音频直播： https://cochina.org/音频直播

twitter直播账号：CoChinaOnline

新浪微博直播账号：CoChina論壇

以下是我一边听一遍做的笔记，与原意不符之处都是我的责任！

张洁平：

张建兴等伙伴都是从就是九十年代末开始上网，他们看到９１１事件说他们都比较反美，他们到现在也是这么觉得，张建兴高一辍学，因为他爸不给买手机，但是他想要一个能上网的，能拍照的，他们都不明白这个东西对我有多重要，他们从小通过互联网联系。

对中国学者，乌坎一发生觉得左派右派讨论都没用了，乌坎事件都是自发的，宗族的力量都是用原来的棋子，捐款也是和以前修庙一样

游行自发的和以前祭祀都一样的，也没有来自外界的指导。

他们不喜欢汪洋，更喜欢薄熙来，他们觉得有青天的话，乌坎就不会出事儿了

主动抗争的意识但是拜托不了一个天花板，皇恩型的政府

主持人：乌坎事件听政府的声音没有表现出来？

张：薛锦波的死亡最坏的事儿，当时村里出现了恐惧情绪，薛是大姓，人很多，一千多人，总人口一万人，死亡是凝聚村的大力量，恐惧的人觉得一定要站到一起

网络问题：乌坎１１７名代表是如何推选的？

张：乌坎有４７个主要的姓，每个姓出１-５名代表，１１７个村民代表有投票权，从中选出３８个人，每个人一个姓，有被投票权，然后选１３个人当代表

林祖鸾从经济诉求到政治诉求，一开始要求重新选举村委会，要推翻以前村委会，要承认我们选出的理事会，以后要从新选举村委会

提问：乌坎的人等清官，香港的人也是希望选一个好议员带领我们，但是要反对

网络评论：未来在年轻人，但是体制内的人不讲正义。

张：村民对薄熙来的想象在想象中，他们也知道在世界上找到好官也不容易，linzuluan觉得村里的事情一定要村自己争取，他们草根领袖他们很在意上级讲话，他们很明了政策的潜意识，他们分析这个是什么意思，汪洋“做人官不做狗官”，linzulan倒是觉得汪洋是袒护自己官的信号，zhengyanxiong不会下台了，其实他们的直觉很准，汪洋的动作连村里的人都知道，汪洋的表态可能只是讲给十八大，可能不是真应对这件事。

主持人：村民土地矛盾，香港的和乌坎有什么不一样？

caiyuancun很特别，是政府的项目，村民和政府的矛盾，但是新界是原居民和非原居民，原居民有点像中国的富农，而非是佃农，而中国的矛盾都是直接国家和村民对抗，香港的原居民其实是既得利益者，而中国宗族的力量比较弱，而宗族还不能吸纳到利益体系当中，农村里面党员的比例比我想象的要低，所以不一定能掌控住这个力量，在香港宗族反而是和政府同一个鼻孔呼吸的。

提问：乌坎更相信个人而不是政府，他们自己很期待领导人，他们另一方面确实相信自己的组织，他们不知道法制和人治，他们可不能发展出一个制度上的可能性呢？

张：他们主动有抗争意识，很有组织性，谁打头，妇女在旁边，组织很高级，但是另一方面又期待人治的出现，但是他们这个东西会慢慢变化的，所谓的启蒙还没有正式开始，我们不要一个皇恩的政府要一个问责政府，重庆的讨论不是很多人能理清楚所谓的薄个人的喜好，他们在三个月的磨练对人治没有以前那么大信心，比如政府给了承诺但是他们遵守吗，很无力，他们选村委会时候他们就想选个代表会，制衡，在运动中出现，旁观者比较容易陷入旁观者傲慢，他们完全是行动经验，所以他们制度设计的时候会吃一堑长一智。

叶：我们对反抗政治都西方中心的，这几年想象公民社会的概念对中国不是很有用，”被治理者的政治“，我们不会想象公民政治的角色，和其中权力和具体的政治当中，我不是说传统是好的，过程是要运动当中探索，其实宗族里面有很多黑暗面，研究农民工时候发现，宗族其实也是压迫当地农民工的，宗族团结是团结但也是暴力，在一个运动当中不是那么干净，要探索，乌坎很有意思，动力是什么需要进一步了解。

现场提问：我不觉得wukan是一个鼓励形成的运动，我们之前看到了很多工厂罢工的时候自己组织了纠察队，城市农村都有抗争，单靠一两个道德号召是很容易镇压的，运动是一次一次失败当中学习过来的，农民工回城可能从城市抗争的经验带回了村。我觉得可以关注城市和农村抗争结合后出现什么情况。

张：他们其实并不知道外面发生了什么罢工，他们乌坎村的人不是来自工厂，其实都是在外面做小生意。

叶：当地的工人和农民区别还是比较大，链接起来比较难。

提问２：他们怕秋后算账吗？

张：他们几个代表到现在为止都不敢出去，他们对上级政府的信心有限，他们的策略就是赶紧息事宁人，接受谈判。

叶：他们需要用隐形的抗争慢慢来，农村的领袖的风险比较高，一般的群众只要不是当头人群众风险不高。

张：秋后算账其实已经有了，１２.２１谈判后，打印店被罚款了二十万，积极的人都会收到危险，他们其实会找一些别的罪名。

提问：怎么看抗争经验的积累？

叶：抗争经验的累积应该从当时的环境经验去理解，而不是工农的想象。

张：问年轻人从哪里知道怎么组织的游行，他们说可能是因为打过游戏，红色境界，来自自己的经验。

乌坎成了上访的地方，海门的人都来见省里的调查组，乌坎人自己很怕惯以串联的罪名，工农联盟很难出现。

网友：八九民运和乌坎的区别？

叶：八九在城市发生，乌坎是地方性的，我们的想象有重要的改变，八九很重要，但是也会限制我们的想象，但是整个社会的改变，地方性的抗争在某个时刻没有特别改变，但是要放到一个过程当中，整个社会的改变是慢慢累积的，而不是一下子某个中央性的改变。

网友：乌坎事件是不是社会维稳手段的转折点？

张：广东和其他不一样的是，广东比较有弹性，薛锦波刚死风声很紧，杨色茂会收到陆风市委书记劝说的电话，但是其他省可能说抓就抓了，不会很激烈，当地组织力量的强大可能真的获得谈判的筹码，被迫从刚性到软性。

叶：维稳可能都有两方面，你和他力量对比的时候，有策略选择，村民的组织很重要，和时机也很重要。政府要看维稳也不能每天刚性维稳。

提问：抗争的可能不会马上改变，但是会累积，转到越来越激烈的过程吗？

张：他们对媒体的策略是多方位的传播渠道，他们有乡音传单，有乌坎电视台，他们还自己制作的了一个电影，一个半小时，在村里的戏台拨，年轻人自己制作的

问题：没有宗族的地方怎么办？

张：秦晖的研究认为中国小共同体的散架是从４９年开始的，但是从秦朝就开始衰落了，在中原一直都很弱，小共同体和公民联盟和大共同体抗衡是一条路

叶：小的宗族的单位在抗争里面很重要，相对自然村的抗争性很强，他们普选的制度比较重要，小的宗族单位扮演重要角色。我觉得宗族只是一种团结的方式，可能有其他的可能性，可能是民间宗教，所以党很害怕这个宗教，小共同体不一定从过去过来的。

张：台湾是靠农会，小共同体不是威胁问题，而是真的谈判机制

提问：领袖是男性，年长的，女村民什么作用？薛锦波的女儿也有发言

张：潮汕重男轻女，从年轻到年长的女性都很积极，上半夜女人守，这件事情之后村里的女人说女人的意见被重视了，他们成立的妇女会，但是被取缔了，他们觉得应该成立新的妇联。

张：联盟的事情，还是尊重事情比较重要，而不能靠想象，他们自己有做事的逻辑。

叶：运动都是学习的过程，选举监督的都是女性，我们一定要从社会当中看到改变，而不是成为虚无主义者。

主持人：女性在运动当中未必是领导者角色，但是很柔软，韧性，支撑男性，下次有机会再探讨。

]]> http://sunhuan.org/http:/itujia.sunhuan.org/feed 0 Who are using Iphone? http://sunhuan.org/http:/itujia.sunhuan.org http://sunhuan.org/http:/itujia.sunhuan.org#comments Wed, 07 Dec 2011 04:13:49 +0000 admin http://sunhuan.org/?p=281 more]]> I quite agree with both what Amar and Jia said in their posts. I read from other articles about developing applications in different platforms also saying the android one is more open, but it seems like the strategy of a more complicated process of developing the Apple App is out of the concern of efficiency? I also heard people say that it is the language used in Iphone that makes it more efficient. I am not a developer and I cannot make a fair judgement on this issue, but I feel on the normative level, there is built-in tension between the freedom and efficiency. If we understand the term Generality as Grimmelmann and Ohm as described in their article ( thanks to Molly’s clarification), Iphone’s more closed environment serves the efficiency of the use of the phone, but has less generality.

Another question I have in mind is that “who are using Iphone?” The price for Iphone 4S is around or over 5000 rmb ( about 800 usd) in China and it is smuggled from Hong Kong. I guess richer families from the cities can afford it, and young female users are another group because of the successful marketing strategy. Several times in our NGO2.0 project meetings, we were discussing the possibility of introducing some tools such as SANA (a medical assistance App) to China, and often our discussion ended with the conclusion that it is not realistic because grassroots communities cannot afford the smart phones. Although the social stratification made Iphone a very high end products, I am also quite optimistic about the future of Chinese smart phone markets. As I discussed a little bit with Molly and Ayse last time, the counterfeit culture of smart phones is promising to make the technology really decentralized. Xiaomi smartphone is promoted as low price but with all the functions enabled by the Android. The performance might not be as good as Iphone or Android phones produced by Moto or Samsung, but I feel the trend is quite encouraging. The process itself is interesting because we can see the interactions between the market, the stratified users, and the cultural institutions in the decentralization.

]]> http://sunhuan.org/http:/itujia.sunhuan.org/feed 0 Comical Effect in Uncomical Reality http://sunhuan.org/http:/itujia.sunhuan.org http://sunhuan.org/http:/itujia.sunhuan.org#comments Wed, 07 Dec 2011 04:11:14 +0000 admin http://sunhuan.org/?p=279 more]]> Charlie Chaplin is often remembered as the greatest comedian in the world, but I always have the impression that he did not smile much in his films. In my memory, we watched an excerpt from Modern Times in one of our middle school classes, and it made us burst into laughter several times because of his exaggerated performances. At that time, I only laughed for his silly encounters, and it was not until the adulthood when I revisited his films again that I realized that the uncomical social reality was in fact deeply rooted in his humor. Although there are various methods to make people laugh, the superior one is not to mock the ugliness of the society, but to speak for the least powerful groups.

In the 1930s when Chaplin’s films were imported to China one of the early film critique says, “Charlie Chaplin’s films are well received by all walks of life…his body gestures are creative and audiences are touched by his performance…he can make people laugh in tears.” [1] Charlie tended to portray the characters of the weak in society, and transformed the miserable experiences into comical effects. That is why he is not only respected for bringing us laughter, but also for evoking our conscience towards social reality. Hu Ke, a contemporary film critic, argued that the popularity of Chaplin’s films in the 1930s influenced the rising of a new genre in China, namely, the comedy with uncomical social backgrounds. One example he mentioned was a film about a poor couple, who did not know each other originally but were accidentally married after going through the rituals arranged by the matchmaker.[2] It showed the absurdity of the daily life and also aroused the deep sympathy for the people living in margins of society.

Recently in Chinese college students’ online forums, one comedian, called Joe Wong, has been discussed a lot, because he uses imperfect English to perform talk shows in the United States. I am not sure whether he is well received among American audiences, but he once gave a performance in White House to express his humor, “I used to have a used car…and…with lots of stickers that are not possible to peel off.(laughter in the audience) And one of them said, ‘If you don’t speak English, go home!’ (laughter in the audience) I did not know this about two years. ” From his speech I find his humor comes from the hard experiences as an immigrant in a new land where he can not even speak sufficiently. What makes his jokes even more striking is that he actually successfully makes a living by talking to people in English. One of the characteristics of the humor shared by both Chaplin and Wong is that their profoundness comes from their concerns about the society, and they never separate themselves from the unprivileged people.

[1] Jing Bo, On Comedy, Life of Film and Drama, Vol (1), 21, 1931.

[2] Hu Ke, The Influence of Charlie Chaplin’s Film Comedy Upon the Ideas of Early Chinese Films, Rewriting Film History. Page 109.

]]> http://sunhuan.org/http:/itujia.sunhuan.org/feed 0 Meanings of Materiality http://sunhuan.org/http:/itujia.sunhuan.org http://sunhuan.org/http:/itujia.sunhuan.org#comments Mon, 05 Dec 2011 03:49:53 +0000 admin http://sunhuan.org/?p=277 more]]>

1.

Gitelman described the case of Sousa who wrote about the copyright violation by piano rolls, and he claimed the right of abstract musical thought. He worried about the situation partly because the scene of the piano rolls played by the piano resembled a live play with a person, and the promotion of the piano also emphasized the artistic values. Where do the artistic values come from? Do the artistic elements come from the performer himself as he might produce different versions of the same music? Many fans come to live concert because the unique interactions with the singer in specific settings, and the singer might give surprise out of their expectations. If this assumption is true, I kind of wonder how Miku, the programed star, attracted so many enthusiastic audiences to the concert. In contrast with Miku that is programed but achieved live effects, the CCTV gala shows on Chinese New Year Eve use live performance to achieve programed effects. Singers and actors have to rehearse again and again to match strict timeline and except for very famous comedian every actor is not allowed to perform spontaneously. The reason for the different cultural phenomena is more complicated that the artistic value that is exclusive to the performer. What do you think of other social forces or other ideological reasons to interpret the artistic value?

2.

In the beginning of Gitelman’s essay, she pointed out the narratives that tend to dematerialize the mediums, and then she positioned herself as a response to the slipperiness of the materiality. She used the case of music sheets and piano rolls to discuss the moments of media transition when legal practices, cultural norms, and perceptual patterns have not been stabilized. She directed our attention back to the meanings of materiality and challenged our natural perception on the notion of media. Last week I read a piece of news that might be relevant to this discussion: The weight of all the electrons in motion that make up the Internet at any one moment is equivalent to 50 grams.http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/i … berry.html
This claim comes from a YouTube channel and to what extent it is true is still a question, but it definitely gives audiences an impression that the our huge amount of data is free from the physicality. If we think of the material meanings of piano rolls described in Gitelman’s work, the weight of the music is even lighter as no electrons are needed to transmit. I think the contribution of Gitelman’s work is to open up many different spaces to understand various levels of materiality. The music sheet and piano rolls were thought as software if they are used with the hardware of the piano, and the music or the content in digital age is easily recognized as less materialized. What is mystifying the meanings of materiality? How virtual indeed is the Internet? If someday the physical screen or sever do not exist at all, how will the meanings of the materiality change?

]]> http://sunhuan.org/http:/itujia.sunhuan.org/feed 0 Red Cherry: Melodramatic Elements in Chinese Ideological Films http://sunhuan.org/http:/itujia.sunhuan.org http://sunhuan.org/http:/itujia.sunhuan.org#comments Fri, 02 Dec 2011 19:29:07 +0000 admin http://sunhuan.org/?p=275 more]]> Many Chinese young people born in the 1980s might have these memories: as part of the compulsory political education, our elementary schools organized free film-screening events in movie theaters after class. Many movies simplified the morality according to the ideology the party embraces by describing communist heroes fighting against Japanese intruders in the 1930s, loyal cadres serving the people while ignoring their deteriorating health, and youngsters dying just to save public properties from fire. These films reassured the dominant value by arousing the sympathy from the audience and the whole social institutions enforced its agenda in China.

One of these films called “Red Cherry” has left me with strong impression since I watched it in the 1990s. The story settings are during World War II in occupied Moscow, where a Chinese young girl in a concentration camp is later sent to detention under a fascist officer who enjoys tattooing on human skins. Much of the movie portrays her experience as the victim but with the intense emotion of hope. The climax comes after the liberation of these detainees and she burns herself to remove the tattoo of a symbol of fascism on her back as she regards it as a persistent shame. The film evoked my sympathy partly because of the melodramatic elements that are stereotyped in the sensational settings, scenes of suffering, and victimization of women. The director did not use scenes of brutal wars, bloody fights, and dead bodies to assure the empathy from the audiences, but rather he exploits the inner world with these melodramatic elements. There were striking scenes in which the heroine, surrounded by German officers, was naked on a table to show the so called artistic tattoo on her body, and through her eyes we could see her emotions changing from fear to despair. On one hand, the sympathy from the audience and the hatred of the villains, stimulated by the sensational scenes, are moral practices that serve educational purposes for the youngsters who have watched the ideological films. On the other hand, the accumulated emotions can be manipulated to create the standard morals that are politically correct.

Although it is not very explicit in this film, we can still have a taste of its ideological potential as propaganda by examining the facts that the director of Red Cherry is the grandson of a military general during 1911 Xinhai Revolution, and the story is based on the true experience of the daughter of Zhu De, one of the founding fathers of P.R. China. These facts further assured and justified the leadership of the higher officials through the establishment of their difficulties in earlier times and their legacies. In addition, the production of the film follows a pattern of production within the propaganda system. Usually movies for moral or ideological education are produced according to the scheme from official departments, and often they respond to a particular social discourse generated by the state. For example, Red Cherry was made to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the victory over the fascist war, and there was a film called “The Founding of a Republic” to memorialize the 60th anniversary of the founding of the nation, and a film “Beginning of the Great Revival” came out just before the 80th birthday of the China Communist Party. Although these facts do not directly correspond to the topic of melodramatic feelings of this essay, my emphasis here is to describe a more comprehensive picture of the ideological space that contains both the social institutions such as the propaganda machine in general, and the melodramatic sentiments within the films.

]]> http://sunhuan.org/http:/itujia.sunhuan.org/feed 0 Is Television asocial? http://sunhuan.org/http:/itujia.sunhuan.org http://sunhuan.org/http:/itujia.sunhuan.org#comments Fri, 02 Dec 2011 19:03:00 +0000 admin http://sunhuan.org/?p=273 more]]> It is interesting to find both Lotz and Arnheim more or less directly answered the question in their articles. Arnheim’s piece written in 1935 claimed that the pervasiveness of the Television makes people retreat from the physical public life. He was quite pessimistic towards the situation and warned that “doing things at the same time and doing them together is not quite the same.” In the network-era described in Lotz’s article, the norms regarding the question changed into the argument that Television effectively serves as a cultural forum where shared contents for discussion are provided. One of the most significant characteristics identified by Lotz in post network-era is the fragmentation of viewers as multi-channel enables a broad range of niche and audiences can also view on-demand for specific shows. Theories of network-era seem to also share a concern that the fragmented audiences might be a threat to public cultural forum. However at the same time, in the post network-era, Lotz argues “Television operates as subcultural forum when it reproduces a similar experience as the electronic public sphere, but among more narrow groups that share particular cultural affinities or tastes”. It appears to be that the understandings and expectations of public life/public sphere/cultural forum also experience the changes with the shifts of the technology of the Television. Is that the fact that people expect less from each other in terms of physical interactions in the process? or in the words of Bourdieu and Putnam’s social capital, does a fragmented society mean a declining public participation?

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