我好無聊之COVID-19 Journal。
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20200401
Maybe many of you would be interested:
“Amid the worldwide spread of COVID-19, it’s a challenging time, and our thoughts are with those affected by this disease. In support and solidarity, we are providing free access to the following books and journal articles to help build knowledge and understanding of how we navigate the spread of communicable diseases.
Listed books are free to read online until June 1, 2020, and journal articles are free until October 1.”
能稱為「科學」的，就已經內在包涵 #科學不確定性 了，所以每當這個構成要件被單挑出來，彷彿能用來對抗或反駁科學時，大抵上有兩種可能——一種是真的搞不清楚狀況；另一種則是蓄意使其成為政治工具的一部分。
20200402
So, now Johnson finally realized the importance of testing after he himself got tested positive against all the rules he set up in the first place. Meanwhile, he should be accountable, if not responsible, for already many infections and deaths.
20200403
“In short, biopolitics is always a politics of differential vulnerability. Far from being a politics that erases social and racial inequalities by reminding us of our common belonging to the same biological species, it is a politics that structurally relies on the establishment of hierarchies in the value of lives, producing and multiplying vulnerability as a means of governing people.”
“Our political thought is a prisoner to the ‘grammar of the crisis’ and its constrained temporality, to the extent that critical responses to the current situation (or, for that matters, to virtually all of the recent economic, social, and humanitarian ‘crises’) do not seem able to look beyond the most immediate future.”
Biopolitics in the Time of Coronavirus (Daniele Lorenzini. 2020)
20200404
It is fairly true that ‘there is a close relationship between political worldviews, the social position and power one holds in society, and what people see as risky and whom they listen on how to approach that risk.’
After all, the answer to the varied attitudes towards the pandemic is not about cultural differences, which risk oversimplification and essentialism anyway. ‘What we deem as risky is social; and is closely bound up with whom we see as capable and responsible for solving it.’
Thus, what we see as risky and how we consider approaching the risk(s) go hand in hand. ‘That we listen to risk judgments and solutions of certain groups (or nations in this case) whilst ignoring others is evident.’
Therefore, one would wonder, back to the beginning – just as Demir’s rhetorical questions in a row, bearing a legitimate angry and frustrated tone:
Would those who govern us in the UK have been as laissez-faire if the virus had been identified in the US and it was the US government and scientists who made those recommendations?
Would those who rule the UK have refused to treat it as having not much bearing on the UK if it came from somewhere closer, that is closer to heart?
Would the UK have even considered herd immunity if it did not think we would be more competent than ‘southern Europeans’ in dealing with it, forgetting that the UK has only ‘about half the capacity of critical care beds per capita’?
Would we have tolerated the view that ‘we’ were measured and reasonable unlike the authoritarian regimes of the East who took draconian measures?
Would our media have had such a blindspot if the advice was not coming from the East?
Would they have pedalled the view that we were different from authoritarian countries and their way of dealing with it because we were the democratic West, forgetting that not all those in Asia who were successful in dealing with this virus were ‘authoritarian’?
Would the US newspapers have remembered that South Korea has a much better position in the democracy index than the US?
Would we have realised that contact tracing has always been an essential aspect of public health in the world, including the UK and thus not something specific to the ‘authoritarian East’?
In summary: Would the West have been as slow to act if the virus was not ‘othered’? Would the West have ignored the advice if it was not coming from countries it deemed as inferior?
CORONA, EAST AND WEST: HAS WESTERN-CENTRISM MITIGATED AGAINST OUR WELL-BEING IN THE UK? (Ipek Demir, 2020)
PS. I don’t agree with how all the questions are framed here, as some of them overlook the nuances, contestations, and ‘hierarchies’ between those considered belonging to ‘the East’. But, still, I get her point.
20200406
😔 I didn’t realise that the list could go on and on like this. Been a while trying to avoid showing up in public and also skip news of this kind, so really shocked by how serious the xenophobic situation is (and surprised by how efficiently Wikipedia works.)
List of incidents of xenophobia and racism related to the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic
20200408
“Protection is not a privilege.” Yet, besides rights, “that’s what it is lacking. It’s empathy.” (Ferreira, 2020)
This is one of those projects that has inspired me the most over these years at Sussex.
#IAmWhoISayIAm #SOGICA #SOGIEasylumseekers #SOGIErefugees
20200409
DEATHS WITHOUT THE VIRUS (En-Chieh Chao, 2020) – Very sharp insights:
Western complacency, and then Western victimhood. But Beijing is not the only one that wishes to rid itself of the role of the murderer and become a savior to the world. Most of the Euro-American colonial regimes did exactly the same thing in the past. In fact, just take a look at what the Middle East has been through, including anti-Ottoman campaigns, WWII, US-Soviet war, the Iraq War, and the rise of ISIS, one cannot help but wonder if “killing like a murderer, and then posing like a savior” is but a standard part of the play book. A play book for imperialism disguised as humanitarianism. Indeed, when we start to dwell on the question of “what is it like for human beings to live with radical uncertainty?”, we almost pretend that the Gaza Strip does not exist.
Conspiracy kills, but so does complacency. With all the deaths caused by the plague and other plagues of war, we must revive history and learn from it. Make all the deaths worth it, with or without the virus.
20200409
當大家都砲火猛烈地回應（或基於世界只剩下美中二元想像而覺得可以護航）Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus的時候——故意標記他，讓他以為我在歧視他——我想起前兩天又讀了一次的 “The multiple meanings of global health governance” (Lee & Kamradt-Scott, 2014)。
世衛本質上是個聯合國系統下的「國際」組織，內建各種博弈，其治理能力終究受限於協調國與國之間的關係。世衛總幹事則更複雜了（畢竟是個人）不只是這個系統的門面，他更是國際政治、外交政治（衣索比亞、非洲聯盟對外）、區域與國內政治（衣索比亞、非洲聯盟對內），加上「自己對世界的想像」，交互作用下的產物。
說到底，一方面，他的工作有一大部分就是要選邊站、說幹話、搓湯圓。另一方面，如果覺得自己是受害者（不論殖民歷史、美帝主義、膚色政治），出線也是因為身為受害者群體的菁英代言人，那麼就算當上總幹事，還是會覺得自己是受害者。所以他敢鏗鏘有力地批評「想像中的加害者」——朋友（中）的敵人（美）的朋友（台）就是敵人——不僅是局外人，還是軟柿子，不罵白不罵，反正沒損失。
組織被逼著不斷表態，強調台灣是中國的，但「脫口而出」的氣話，證明了越來越沒人真的相信這回事了（連他自己都不相信了）。他能有多 “I don’t care.” 他 care 到爆了；但為什麼是這個時候說出口？那「脫口而出」是出於真實的憤怒，還是一場表演？他到底在氣誰？誰讓他感覺變回無力的受害者，誰用槍抵著他的脖子，因此他「忍不住」見笑轉生氣？
這種個人與組織的混同（confusion），讓有權者可以偽裝成受害者，讓局外人成為局內人的替死鬼。回到一開始提到的，「選對邊」或「不沾鍋」成為用人任事的大原則，這正是傳統國際組織最為人詬病的地方，因為這也是最原始的管理狀態——最不問正當性，甚至可以直接跳過可問責性（accountability）。
若說當年隨千禧年來臨而崛起的 #全球健康治理 是不滿於戰後以國家為主體、以發展為基礎之國際衛生合作機制的權力失衡、效率不彰，應運而生的批判與回應；那現下的世衛，也越來越遠離 GHG 最理想的版本「對全球健康之治理」（governance for global health），且逐漸退回到它當年最討厭也最畫地自限的版本「全球化與健康治理」（globalisation and health governance）。
然後，MJ大大一直都是我的偶像，經常用很平淡的語氣，說出很帥的話，所以我寧願轉發他的專訪，也不要幫譚德賽衝人氣：
「公衛就是一個，做得越好，大眾越感覺不到存在的專業。」
我們今天能一直感受到譚德賽的存在，可見他在處理的不是公衛專業，而是國際關係。
20200410
This week, echoing the concerns of the HIV JUSTICE WORLDWIDE Steering Committee, amongst others, UNAIDS issued a strongly worded press release condemning governments for abusing the current state of emergency over the COVID-19 pandemic for overreaching their powers and enacting laws that target people who are living with, or vulnerable, to HIV.
“In times of crisis, emergency powers and agility are crucial; however, they cannot come at the cost of the rights of the most vulnerable,” said Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “Checks and balances that are the cornerstone of the rule of law must be exercised in order to prevent misuse of such powers. If not, we may see a reversal of much of the progress made in human rights, the right to health and the AIDS response.”
Notably, UNAIDS singles out EU member states, Hungary and Poland.
In Hungary, a new bill has been introduced to remove the right of people to change their gender and name on official documents in order to ensure conformity with their gender identity, in clear breach of international human rights to legal recognition of gender identity.
In Poland, a fast-tracked amendment to the criminal law that increases the penalties for HIV exposure, non-disclosure and transmission to at least six months in prison and up to eight years in prison has been passed—a clear contravention of international human rights obligations to remove HIV-specific criminal laws.
In addition, UNAIDS condemns overly zealous policing that is especially targeting key populations already stigmatised, marginalised, and criminalised.
20200412
最近才剛好在讀 Yong-Soo Eun 的東西耶，好巧！（I still don’t know how his notion of ‘reflexive solidarity’ works in a more practical sense, though.)
Quote: To summarise, the currents of debate over “broadening” the theoretical or discursive horizons of IR beyond the Western disciplinary dominance have evolved over the past decade or so, embracing a wide range of epistemic concerns; their contributions to grappling with the problem of the Western-dominated IR are dense. However, despite such a meaningful effort, be it “non-Western IR,” “post-Western IR,” or “Global IR,” and its recent contributions, several critical questions and issues still remain unclear or under-explored.
20200413
Mmm interesting! Didn’t realize that there’re so many similar cases, and, despite the fact that most of the involved states are parties to similar international or regional human rights treaties, they seem to make quite different decisions after all.
“Recent defeats include a 2017 decision by the #Australian government that shelved plans to ratify an extradition treaty with China on human rights concerns.
In 2019, Seoul refused China’s request to send 22 Taiwanese to China who had been convicted in #Korea of committing telecom fraud. Instead they sent them back to Taiwan. This is despite the fact that Korea and China have an extradition treaty.
In 2020 both #NewZealand Appeals Court and the #Swedish Supreme Court barred extraditions, while most recently #France bared an extradition to China as well. The case in New Zealand is now being considered by the Supreme Court.
Last year, Madrid, #Spain sent back over 200 Taiwanese to China on telecom fraud charges.”
20200414
竟然有第八季片頭！
連續幾天都binge watching #Suits ，剛剛終於到了倒數第二集，原本想一鼓作氣把它看完，沒想到WiFi突然斷線，可能是天註定吧！
一開始我其實非常不喜歡這部影集，根本是當代所有版本metropolitan masculinities的大集合，各種toxic，我一度停了好久不想看（或無法認真看，不然會太生氣）。而且這部戲太多storm in, storm out跟大吼大叫，需要一點時間習慣，倒是裡面的音樂都選得很到位。
不過，過了一段時間，它成為我晚上工作時固定打開的背景聲音。沒想到默默就要結束了，為什麼梅根跑去當Duchess of Sussex，這部戲就得結束，我也不懂，明明他們倆不在，我才開始覺得這部影集真的值得看了。
雖然第九季是壓軸，各種情緒激動又壓抑，但我還是覺得第八季是最好看的一季，因為幾乎完全沒有Mike Ross跟Rachael Zane，我真的太不喜歡他們了，the most cheesy couple on Netflix ever。哈哈哈，假鬼假怪真的不行。
而其中，我覺得第8季第7集是最好看的一集（我甚至有寫心得筆記）。那集碰觸到種族、階級、認同、差異、社群、性別、友情、親密關係等議題，但都很巧妙帶過（一如以往），也還是很多甩頭就走的場景，卻處理得很細膩，不拖泥帶水也不粗暴硬扯。
20200414
感覺 #GeraldHorne 的書可以找來看看
“當年日本以挑戰白人優越的霸權地位，企圖充當亞洲的「另類強權」，又以贏取「種族戰爭」勝利的方式，吸引大量有色人種的支持者。今日中共推出「一帶一路」，「南南合作」，以為「創造人類命運共同體」背書、以「中國模式」改造西方主導的世界秩序云云，在多大程度上，是隨日本過去的軌迹，走同一的路？
《#種族戰爭》（#RaceWar!）一書當然沒有直接給予我們答案，然而至少可以讓人明白，為什麼種族主義爭論會在這世局大變的關口上事無大小均會紛至沓來。「政治問題的種族化」不是一種無關痛癢的辯論技巧，而是話語霸權爭奪的關鍵戰略——譚德塞先生這次，只是放了其中一炮。”
20200417
Looks so interesting!
Netflix has released the trailer for #CircusOfBooks.
Executive produced by Ryan Murphy, the documentary tells the history of "the center of the gay universe," as one patron termed it, an adult bookstore in Los Angeles called Circus of Books.
20200418
I even don’t remember how many times I’ve posted this song. Nowadays it fits many different occasions, doesn’t it?
*****
This is the end
Hold your breath and count to ten
Feel the earth move and then
Hear my heart burst again
For this is the end
I've drowned and dreamt this moment
So overdue I owe them
Swept away, I'm stolen
Let the sky fall
When it crumbles
We will stand tall
Face it all together
20200419
First time heard of “#GenderCriticalFeminism”, and yet, the relationship between sex and gender, described by #DavinaCooper here, however reminds me of the metaphor proposed by #DianeRichardson (2007: 470) in regard to reimagining “the relationship between gender and sexuality: that of the shoreline, a boundary in motion between land and sea. Moreover, this is a boundary that far from being self contained is extensive and informed by the hinterlands that shape and shift it.”
“But which is sea and which is land? In most theoretical accounts, gender is understood as having greater fixity than sexuality, which is regarded as more fluid and capable of reconfiguration……”
The interesting part is that “#gender” seems to be the elastic and extensive category in the sex/gender system, while being the relatively rigid one in the gender/sexuality system. Intriguingly, put together, sex seems to be quite irrelevant to sexuality in the matrix, in which gender plays a significant role.
And Richardson’s metaphor goes on: “On this basis, we can think of the two hinterlands that frame the shoreline, the land and the sea, as gender and sexuality respectively. Where they intersect, the relationship between them, constitutes the shoreline. This is a dynamic relationship, affected by both local and global conditions, (micro and macro climates) in which land and sea bleed into each other and are inter-related (they shape each other), but are also distinguishable. This is also a metaphor that enables us to think of the relationship between gender and sexuality as specific to certain localities and historical periods. At different times and places shorelines disappear and new ones form. Coastlines are constructed (spits form as a result of coastal deposition; seas alter with global warming) as well as eroded (the effects of both gradual and sudden change). New sexualities and genders emerge as others disappear. It also allows for situational specificity, different aspects of the shoreline are revealed in some circumstances that are not in view in others. In some social contexts we may observe a particular link between gender and sexuality, whereas in other contexts such a link is not apparent. For example, in some situations gender nonconformity may ‘bring into view’ a particular relationship between gender and homosexuality, whereas in others it may not.
The metaphor of the shoreline allows for the possibility of rapid and major transformations, such as a tsunami (the consequences for the links between gender and sexuality of a war suddenly breaking out) or a sudden landslide that has been caused by years of erosion (major transformations that are the result of years of campaigning for social change).”
I like this metaphor really much, even citing it in my thesis.
20200420
#KelleyLee seems to be an interesting person: ‘The other way I describe the WHO is like if you go into a restaurant, it’s got everything on the menu. It’s one of those Gordon Ramsay moments where, “You need to reduce this menu, you can’t do everything.” And I think WHO has been like that because it’s had to respond to 194 countries. So it has everything to do with health. And I don’t think that’s tenable for any organization, especially when you have frozen resources. And so you’re spread more and more thin, and you’re trying to do everything.’
不過，世界衛生組織大概是世界上少數比聯合國會員國還多的國際組織，再加上生醫產業蓬勃發展，可以想見它需要取悅的人有多少。
20200421
李柏翰／鬧脾氣大賽？美拔WHO銀根，可能加劇全球健康不平等
其實我這篇短文只是想表達，在國際衛生政治的舞台上，鬧脾氣的資格反映出全球不平等的現象：鬧脾氣不是毫無代價的，被罔顧被犧牲的其實是各地的助人工作者和受困於貧窮的人。
————
中美惡鬥之際，#非洲聯盟 搶先表明：力挺世衛與總幹事譚德塞。受創嚴重的 #歐洲聯盟 各國，更預計在今年5月第73屆世界衛生大會上提出《回應嚴重特殊傳染性肺炎》（#Covid19Response）的決議草案，表達對世衛的支持。不僅希望各方（包括非政府組織與公民社會）加強團結，也請求世衛與聯合國能展開更緊密的合作關係。
另一方面，當全世界開始究責時，可能被點名的都在鬧脾氣以卸責。試想，誰有資格 #鬧脾氣？通常都是最有權力的人，而轉移焦點也是最常見的手法。不過，負責至少有「對國際」和「對國內」兩個面向，當然世衛跟中國兩者都責無旁貸，但白宮若想藉此減輕其既有的國內及國際責任，結果卻由眾人承擔，對全世界都不公平。
20200422
【台灣法曆上冊＋下冊】這兩本書其實蠻酷的，介紹了很多我本來根本沒聽過的法律歷史事件。而且特別召集一個專案團隊在處理，前前後後進行、修訂很久，覺得好搞剛，真是辛苦了。
20200423
Alvaro just recommended this song to me, when I told him that lately I’ve been binge watching “#TheAmericans” by myself at night after he falls asleep. 🤣
Sting's "Russians" should always be followed up with main course of "The War Song" by Culture Club and "The Lebanon" by that great group of guys, The Human League for dessert 😌
20200423
Interesting and timely collection: Anthropology and Epidemics, a Quarantine Reading List!
From Grace Carey: "Assembled in this curated collection is a selection of articles from the American Ethnologist archives that, while not providing answers to the current global pandemic landscape, can perhaps offer ethnographic windows into various epidemic contexts and experiences across time, space, and lines of inequality. These ethnographic windows look into various aspects of global epidemics that receive vastly differing degrees of international visibility including cholera, HIV/AIDS, dengue fever, SARS, avian influenza, and botulism among others."
20200425
Sigh!
‘Ministers were warned last year the UK must have a robust plan to deal with a pandemic virus and its potentially catastrophic social and economic consequences in a confidential Cabinet Office briefing leaked to the Guardian.
The detailed document warned that even a mild pandemic could cost tens of thousands of lives, and set out the must-have “capability requirements” to mitigate the risks to the country, as well as the potential damage of not doing so.‘
20200426
I can’t believe that I’ve watched the finales of both #TheAmericans and #GilmoreGirls. Now I need to find something new for my binge-watching #lockdown nights.
20200427
Across the Asia Pacific region, #APF members have been monitoring and responding to the human rights issues facing marginalised groups during the #COVID19 crisis, especially in the face of lockdowns imposed by governments.
Despite the difficult contexts in which they operate, national human rights institutions (#NHRIs) have been vocal in raising issues facing migrant workers, people in places of detention, families living in poverty, people with disabilities, and refugees and asylum seekers, among others.
This includes the need to uphold physical health and safety for all, equal access to health care, access to basic necessities, access to information and fair treatment by police and security forces.
20200427
EP36｜性交易是否合法化？如何面對性產業中的剝削問題？#法客電台 BY 楊貴智
阿空聲音也太好聽了吧（撒花）🧡 而且楊貴智為什麼這麼了解 #網黃 的部分
20200428
《臺灣社會學刊》COVID-19論壇系列之一：誰在治理什麼？新冠肺炎、全球健康和臺灣的多重定位
巷仔口社會學作者：李柏翰／薩賽克斯大學社會學系
謝謝 巷仔口社會學 小編的摘要。
當然，這解釋無法取代其他變因和分析視角，但不諱言的是，越來越多證據顯示，歐美各國一開始並沒有太認真看待「來自 #南方」關於新興傳染病的早期預警（#EarlyWarning）。
許多人已經開始認真追問：這些忽視（#ignorance）和傲慢（#arrogance）背後的機制是什麼？ #時空感 上的落差——是否緊急+是否廣泛——其實反映出 #全球不平等 一直是全球健康治理內建待解的問題。
20200429
這個系列的文章好好看（學Helen講話 XD ）！
《科技、醫療與社會》期刊網站【專題】疫情渴望STS：新型冠狀病毒肺炎 (COVID-19)疫情中的科技與社會初探
20200430
Please support the Crisis Justice at Sussex campaign, formed by our campus unions (local branches of UCU, Unite, and Unison), to put people before profit at the University of Sussex.
We are petitioning to oppose sweeping cuts at our University, to protect precarious workers and students, and for practical, humane and just leadership during the Covid-19 pandemic. The principle of crisis justice proposes that any financial sacrifices to be made in this time of crisis must come from the top downwards.
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