我好無聊之COVID-19 Journal。
應該是最後一篇了，反正英國也 ease lockdown 了～
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20200501
Finally watched “Circus of Books”, and really liked it.
Formality-wise, the storyline is simple, the narrative is clear, very straightforward and not over-sensationalising, and still, not washing down any sensitivity and controversiality. Quite a good balance between family life, personal dilemmas, business per se, and the political messages that the film tries to convey.
Content-wise, surrounding the life of a bookstore, there are so many clues that can be an interesting research topic, such as: the role pornography’s in gay (rights) movement, the emergence of internet, the repressive regime and its (ab)use of power in negotiating with countercultures, counterpublics, sexualities, ‘abnormalities’ and ‘obscenities’.
Also, very intriguing are: the death drive of HIV/AIDS, the different interpretations of free speech, the comparison between the War on Porn and War on Drugs, the complicity of the religious right in neoliberalism, the role of consumerism in identity politics-based social movement, the absence of female sexuality and sensuality.
20200502
Yi-Cheng Wu (2020) The Logic of ‘Advanced Deployment’ to Tackle COVID-19 in Taiwan
“Given the profound anthropological reflections on disease control, there is no one-size-fits-all model for battling against this virus. However, it is never easy to imagine an appropriate measure without addressing the complex of world politics.
It is undoubtedly too early to tell if the coronavirus is successfully contained in Taiwan. However, the logic of ‘#advanceddeployment’ reveals Taiwan’s struggle for international prestige by appealing to the country’s collectivism. It is a battle for both ‘face’ and ‘lining’, while ‘face’ (mienzi) is related to the sense of respect and ‘lining’ (lizi) refers to strength and capability.
The COVID-19 pandemic stirs in the imagination mankind’s solidarity, an image of everyone, including me, watching Joan Baez singing the classic ‘Imagine’ on a laptop screen. Nevertheless, when we think of unifying as One, we still need to understand how people imagine Others when they perceive political vulnerability in this quasi-war time.”
20200502
Can’t believe that we made it to walk all the way to #allotment 👨🏼🌾👩🏽🌾 and do some #goodwork 🌱 #socialdistancing #thelifeoflockdown (con Alvaro)
20200504
從小到大一直很喜歡這首Lauryn Hill “Mystery Of Iniquity”，歌詞真的寫太好了
20200506
《我，Pornhub第一位中文译者》這個故事真的太酷了！
性的敘事、色情文本，通常既囂張又隱晦，時而露骨時而迂回，參與其中的表演者和觀眾都會不斷磋商出新的用詞，不同的語境、場景中也會發展出很多千奇百怪的講法、縮寫、術語，不旁徵博引有時候還真搞不清楚什麼意思，所以能翻譯真的很厲害。
20200508
其實 #南北之爭 到處都有，在歐洲內部也是。西歐、北歐對其他歐洲地方的「種族歧視」也屢見不鮮，這也是為什麼我每次寫文章，寫到 #西方 或 #歐洲 的時候，以前的指導教授都會要我釐清包括誰，或加上下引號。
那在大航海時期的時候，當西班牙、葡萄牙、荷蘭宰制海外殖民地時，那時候歐洲的內部政治和階序是如何？有翻轉現在看到的南北軸線嗎？
所以我突然可以理解為什麼 decolonial theory 會認為 imperial differences —> colonial differences —> cultural differences。
因為文化的階序，是隨著殖民權力的轉移而來，而這個轉移是透過帝國的位移而來。帝國位置改變，殖民系統也會改變，不同文化之間也會形成新的宰制，而且被「固化」在特定種族、社會之上，以維持新的秩序。
20200509
Ferran Perez Mena (2020) The Trap of Diversity: What Constitutes ‘Non-Western IR Theory’?
Lately been reading some #nonWesternIR and #GlobalIR papers, and I can’t agree more with Ferran’s observation (which might be informed by #decolonialtheory):
“[T]he uncritical engagement with ‘#culturaldiversity’ in the discipline of IR, which has been epitomised by the development of ‘non-Western IR theory’, has not succeeded in transcending the ‘imperial’ or ‘Western’ origins of the discipline.
On the contrary, the interpretation of the production of non-Western international thought as the knowledge produced by societies beyond the territories of the West has reinforced new forms of essentialism.
The trap of diversity in IR…the form in which ‘non-Western IR theory’ has materialised should be understood as a form of disciplinary ‘#identitypolitics’, a struggle for the representation of abstract and reified cultural entities, rather than as a real theoretical challenge to question its imperial foundations and the material infrastructure that enabled that specific production of knowledge.”
20200509
《臺灣社會學刊》COVID-19論壇系列之二：防疫共同體的生命政治
作者：巷仔口社會學 陳嘉新／陽明大學科技與社會研究所
20200511
#DavidFidler: The US government’s demands for WHO reform, backed by the funding freeze, threaten the ability of the organisation to sustain its pandemic response and maintain its strengthened functional capabilities in the midst of a deadly outbreak that shows no signs of dissipating.
This threat will remain as long as the United States withholds funding and other support until WHO member states accept US reform proposals. At the moment, those proposals are neither coherent nor credible.
The current haphazard quest for WHO reform does not know what it seeks, and, without a better strategy, it will damage the WHO’s ability to counter a pernicious pathogen at the worst possible moment. Such a misadventure could cripple the WHO rather than redeem it.
20200512
哲翰這系列的文章好完整！
「對彼時的德國社會而言，中國疫情太遙遠太煽情、而鄰近的義大利疫情則還未爆發，醫療系統因疫情而崩潰的景象太過抽象。部分媒體對疫情可能帶來嚴重後果的報導與示警，還往往被貼上『危言聳聽』的標籤。」（這段來自 #瘟疫試煉德意志［中］）。
對照英國的情況，好像也有很多可以參照的情況。
#RacialisationOfCOVID19
#WesternCentricGlobalHealth
20200512
Chia-Yu，這可能是你的菜：What Is Continental Philosophy? An Interview with Edward Baring
#EdwardBaring is Associate Professor of Modern European History at Drew University and the author of the new book #ConvertstotheReal: Catholicism and the Making of Continental Philosophy (Harvard, 2019).
Chapter 1 incorporates discussions from Baring’s article “Ideas on the Move: #ContextInTransnationalIntellectualHistory,” which was published in the Journal of the History of Ideas in 2016. An excerpt from the book is freely accessible in Church Life Journal.
Baring is also author of #TheYoungDerridaAndFrenchPhilosophy, 1945–1968 (Cambridge, 2011), which won the Morris D. Forkosch Prize from the Journal of the History of Ideas. Contributing editor Jonathon Catlin interviewed him about his latest book.
20200514
裡面有兩個圖很酷：
There are two reasons why we have not been reading more about the epidemic in the global south. First, it is occurring later there. And second, we are not paying attention.
Look at any map of COVID-19 cases over time and the pattern is clear through to the middle of March – China was hit first, followed by its neighbours, then Iran, western Europe, the UK and the US. The deaths we are seeing now are following two to six weeks later in the same pattern.
This pattern almost exactly overlays the map of global air travel. Infectious disease modellers have known for decades that the spread of flu viruses is predicted by patterns of air travel.
With COVID-19, countries with high volumes of air travel with China were affected first, and then it spread from those countries to the others with which they have the most air links.
20200517
This online magazine [Political Concepts: A Critical Lexicon] seems very interesting, and it even has a special edition dedicated to #ÉtienneBalibar.
http://www.politicalconcepts.org/
20200517
The situations of human rights restrictions and violations, in the name of ‘defending public health, are really worrying, especially when ‘the public’ is unilaterally defined based on ethnicity/nationality by the governments.
Chen, Li-Li (2020) Human Rights and Democracy Amidst Militarized COVID-19 Responses in Southeast Asia:
“That most citizens in Southeast Asian countries seem to support their states of emergency or lockdown worryingly functions to consolidate the state power as well as to silence political dissent, constrain the space for civic discussion and participation, or cover up human rights violations, which could curb future public discussion and debate as well as independent monitoring fundamental to consolidation of democracy.”
20200522
其實這篇文章一出來，我就看到且想分享了，但遲遲不確定內容是否確實，還是有誇大。後來追了一些關於南韓的新聞，發現獵巫的狀況似乎真的挺嚴重的。唉！
“[I]t’s not surprising that the Protestant right would replace HIV with COVID-19, when presented with the opportunity.
When the King Club announced on social media that one of its customers had been diagnosed with COVID-19, the news was picked up by Kukmin Daily, a local paper with links to Protestant churches. Soon after its publication, Kukmin Daily’s article was distributed by other media, sparking a homophobic backlash online against the queer community.
As it stands, for gay men in particular, getting tested for COVID-19 in Seoul risks being outed. To be outed risks losing jobs, friends, even family.
Despite South Korea’s conservative values, under normal circumstances sexual minorities would be able to access healthcare like any other citizen. Now, due to the media frenzy, they face a choice between risking their health versus everything else.“
20200523
Indeed, it’s all about what the producers and editors of narratives want you to see and believe. A classic example is RuPaul Drag Race. No just TV show, so do many other things that involve media.
“Sherry Pie’s disqualification throws off the balance of the season by removing a crucial part of the narrative, and there’s always going to be some cognitive dissonance when Sherry Pie ends up in the top without any support from the editing.
The overall stakes take a hit because there isn’t much conflict at the top, but there’s also something compelling about seeing what a reality TV contestant’s arc becomes when they have no personal story behind them and appear solely in performance mode.
#RealityTVpersonalities are created by what the producers and editors allow the viewer to see, and without any on-screen relationships or solo testimonials, it becomes harder for the audience to root for an individual.
There’s no way to completely remove Sherry Pie from the season without leaving huge gaps in the #storytelling, but editing her out prevents the disqualified queen from reaping the rewards of exposure.”
20200524
God bless Hong Kong 😞
The most recent development: Beijing has vowed to force controversial #NationalSecurityLaw on Hong Kong “without the slightest delay” as police fired teargas at protesters demonstrating against the unprecedented decision.
20200527
“The Central Epidemic Control Center (CECC) has recently lifted the ban on baseball games, exhibitions, and huge gatherings of more than 100 persons. As to the hostess bars and dancing halls, the CECC decides that local governments could lift the ban if they are well-prepared for containing Covid-19. In other words, the CECC does not want to deal with the political hot potato and leave it to the local government.
Since #sexwork is always a controversial issue in Taiwan, local governments hardly want to confront mainstream sexual morality. This is why local governments are allowed to set up a sex district in their administrative regions since 2011. However, so far, there are not any sex districts in Taiwan.
In the past week, only #Penghu county and #Tainan city reopen hostess bars and dancing halls with strict conditions — such as keeping social distance, demanding both clients and hostesses to #wearmasks, and having their names and addresses recorded in daily bases. It is important to note that both cities are not major administrative regions where hostesses or sex workers work. The CECC should utilise their expertise to reopen hostess bars and dancing halls, rather than pass the buck to local governments.”
20200529
司法院大法官會議2020年5月29日作出釋字第791號解釋，刑法通姦罪違憲，立即失效。
20200530
上一次多邊主義、國際組織崩潰的時候，是二戰前。繼差點［還是已經？］被玩壞的WTO，看來WHO是美國的下一個目標了。
美國，我印象中，憲法中有規定國際條約一旦締結了（外交代表簽署+國會批准），就視為與聯邦法的一部分 <— 也就是直接視為國內法。
這點的確跟台灣不太一樣，台灣是需要「國內法化」的程序的（記得英國也是這樣，所以是看各國憲法的）。
不過（在美國）雖然直接視為國內法的一部分，但不等於條約內容就能 #自動執行（self-executing）。這可能要看當初「批准」時，國會的紀錄（或政府提交批准的文件）。
「非自動執行的條約」通常是：條約本身要求需要國內法化、國會當初有要求、需要跟憲法在協調一下 <— WHO章程應該都不符合，所以我猜未查國會紀錄先猜它是可以 #自動執行 的 #聯邦法。
一般國會通過的是 #批准，簽署應該是行政部門的事。
換句話說：世衛章程在美國國內，應該是具有法律效力且有執行力（而可視為國內法體系一部分）的國際條約。
但政府如果不遵守這個條約，可能與他國產生爭端，或在國內引發訴訟；可是如果要說它不是法律，應該不正確。
我上課常常跟學生舉一個例子：
我們這個社區有幾戶人家想約定輪流打掃公設。
我家是爸爸說了算，你家媽媽說了算，有的是全家要家庭會議，有人家說爸媽說了算，有的是以孩子意願為主，各種家裡情況不同。
然後各家戶長就去訂了協議。回家後有的家人不開心就不要了。總之最後就有協議，大部分都參與了，但有幾戶最後沒參與。
最後到底家裡派誰去打掃、怎麼輪流，那是家裡自己會協調的，其他戶就不管了，反正你那幾天要有人來打掃就對了。
然後沒參與的，家人還跑來用公設，大家就是會不爽，對你指指點點，但也不能怎樣。
哈哈哈哈哈
20200601
This is too disturbing; I thought I was watching videos from Hong Kong 🤬. Seeing this, one can see more, rather than less, similarities between the American and Chinese governments—who don’t know how to govern without using direct violence and who intentionally produce, rather than address, structural violence to maintain and justify it.
…………
20200602
What the hell! 😢 #Ebola 又爆發了，唉！
Let’s see if the world really cares about #globalsolidarity and those beautiful slogans, after all the published and forthcoming “critical reflections” regarding global health, care ethics, and epidemic response.
Or, they were written just because the ongoing COVID hits the West, whose concerns happen to be the only, truly, “global” concerns.
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