Suchergebnisse

This article explores the issue of posthuman embodiment envisioned in contemporary Chinese artist Tian Xiaolei's (田晓磊) two representative videos: The Creation (Chuangzao "创造," 2015) and Greatness (Weida "伟大," 2017). Perceived and envisaged from an erotic perspective, The Creation reveals humans' unrestrainable lust and desires for fusing with technology, while Greatness, by taking a different trajectory of remaking a Buddhist mandala, provides us with a set of religious symbolism and reconstructs the spiritual order of a posthuman future, thereby invoking an intriguing affinity between posthumanism and Buddhism with respect to a renewed conceptualization of the human. It argues that both works invite us to experience and ponder on, aesthetically and conceptually, the kaleidoscopic morphology of human corporeality in the posthuman condition.

Abstract: What makes humans and nonhumans ecological beings in the wake of the Anthropocene? Timothy Morton's Humankind invites us to consider this philosophical issue as intrinsically aesthetic, ethical, and political. Through his illuminating terminology, Morton argues that becoming human is to understand that we are in fact embedded in the network of solidarity and kindness with nonhumans. Being ecological, for Morton, means being spectral and capable of appreciating the spectrality, pleasure, and beauty of nonhuman beings. In our relationship with nonhuman beings, we are the actants who should overcome our troubled anthropocentrism and mull over what makes us humans, physically and experientially. By putting Marxism, object-oriented ontology, and political ecology into dialogue, Morton revisits the implicit inclusion of nonhuman beings in Marxism, revealing that Marxism can still serve as a critical resource of thinking through a kind of communist existence shared by all ecological beings.

AbstractThis paper examines the impact of COVID‐19 on fruits and vegetable prices in the United States and China in a difference‐in‐differences framework. Our main results show differing impacts of the pandemic on the U.S. and Chinese wholesale prices. We conclude that despite the unprecedented disruptions, the U.S. produce industry remained intact. However, the long‐run effects could be mixed. We conjecture that the industry would stay resilient in the long run by having gained practical know‐how. Nevertheless, potential structural changes, such as changing household expenditure patterns due to income loss and increasing concentration in the food service market, could hurt the industry.

Exponential increase of used and scrapped products has aroused worldwide attention, with various coping strategies regarding environmental protection and resource reutilization being considered and implemented. Among these, remanufacturing, processing used products environmentally and restoring them to like-new conditions, is preferred by nations around the world. China has been committed to developing and advancing the remanufacturing industry along with its products since 2013, however only a few residents are able to recognize and purchase remanufactured products at the present time. This paper aims to investigate the public awareness of Chinese residents on these emerging products by conducting a questionnaire survey and field research for data collection, and analyzing the results statistically. Results show that most Chinese residents are not familiar with remanufactured products, the superior attributes of such products, or the channels available to purchase them. This could be explained by insufficient publicity and promotion on the part of the government and business enterprises. Factors influencing the purchase intentions of customers are illuminated and potential problems are summarized, in response to which, respective recommendations are provided for both policy makers and firms to popularize remanufactured products.