Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies e-Bulletin Issue 6

Seminars held by Centre for Chinese Family Studies
Seminars held by Centre for Social Innovation Studies
Seminars held by Gender Reseach Centre

Speaker
Prof. Adam Cheung

Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Hong Kong Baptist University

Co-organizer
Department of Sociology, CUHK

Since 1973, when the Hong Kong government implemented a policy allowing foreign nationals to work as live-in domestic helpers, the number of households employing one or more live-in domestic helpers has continuously increased. Prof. Cheung noted that previous studies on housework and domestic outsourcing mainly drew on frameworks involving such issues as resources, time-availability, gender-display and work-family conflict, and mostly ignored the temporal dimension of hiring help, as well as factors external to the families. He collected retrospective event-history data from a representative household survey (N=2,003) and 25 in-depth interviews in 2019. In the seminar, he discussed the factors of the duration from marriage to the start of the employment of domestic helpers and the duration from the start of the employment of domestic helpers to the end of this practice.

Speaker
Prof. Emma X. Zang

Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Yale University, U.S.

Co-organizer
Department of Sociology, CUHK

This seminar examined the impact on the well-being of husbands and wives of the 2011 judicial interpretation of the Chinese Marriage Law, which altered property rights. Although the focus continues to be on macro-level gender inequality, relatively few studies have focused on intrahousehold gender inequality in China.

Using data from the China Family Panel Studies (80,162 observations of 22,541 individuals), a nationally representative survey of Chinese households, a difference-in-differences strategy was used in this webinar to compare the outcomes of spouses in households where only the husband’s name is on the deed with those where the spouses have equal ownership status. This webinar demonstrated how a seemingly gender-neutral policy can generate gendered consequences. It is therefore critical that policymakers consider the implications of intrahousehold inequality.

Speaker
Prof. Ran Liu

Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Policy Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, U.S.

Co-organizer
Department of Sociology, CUHK

Research shows that gender attitudes influence gender disparities in educational attainment and income. In this webinar, the focus was on examining how gender attitudes shape individual educational attainment and income in a society with traditional gender norms. Prof. Liu and her team proposed an “egalitarian penalty” hypothesis, which suggests that men and women with egalitarian gender attitudes are penalized in labour markets with patriarchal gender norms. Drawing on longitudinal data from Taiwan, we find that adolescents with egalitarian gender career attitudes have a higher educational attainment but a lower income in adulthood. The egalitarian penalty is particularly strong for men and is not mediated by characteristics of the workplace.

Speaker
Prof. Jia Yu

Assistant Professor, Center for Social Research, Peking University, China

Co-organizer
Department of Sociology, CUHK

As a reflection of social norms on childbearing, the ideal number of children is crucial to projecting long-term trends in fertility. Comparing China and other selected countries, Prof. Yu’s research results show that the average ideal family size is much lower among Chinese women aged between 18 and 49 than among women in other countries. Capitalizing on the 2018 China Family Panel Study, Prof. Yu and her team examined the effects of macro-level contextual factors on the ideal number of children in China. The results show that the higher a country’s levels of economic development, income inequality, and economic competition are; and the lower its total fertility rate, the smaller will be the ideal family size in that country.

During the past one year, CHI held below seminars:

Sustainable Construction Introduction and Application

The Craft of Sustainability: A Synthesis of Delivering Eco Development

Art of Sustainable Architecture and Sustainable Master Plan Design, Post Green Building Conception

Case Sharing Regarding Sustainable Application in Asia

Singapore Urban Planning and Jobs

Contemporary Urban Processes and Sustainable Development Goals

History of (Sustainable) Housing

How to Avoid Plagiarism: APA Referencing, Citation, and Concise Writing

Singapore Public Housing

100 Years of Sustainable Housing: The Viennese Model

Going Digital: Digital Cities, Smart Cities and New Ideas for Future Cities

Sustainable Cities and Society

Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Constructions

Hong Kong Prefabrication Development and Its Advantages & Disadvantages

Prefabrication Design and Government Policy Support & Effect

BIM Introduction and Application and Prefabrication Future Development

Urban Systems Design for Smart Cities

Urban Energy and Metabolism

Senior and Housing Community

Sustainable Drainage Design for Healthy Living

Public Space Design for Housing Community

Future and Vision: Hong Kong Public Health Development in Public Space

Public Space Optimization in Housing Environmental Design

Speaker
Prof. Jack L. Qiu

Professor and Research Director, Department of Communications and
New Media, National University of Singapore

Moderator
Prof. Chris K. C. Chan

Director, Centre for Social Innovation Studies, HKIAPS

Prof. Qiu shared the trajectory of his research on Chinese digital labour activism, innovative data collection methods such as machine learning and participatory action research, as well as his relevant reflections, such as the importance of global solidarity and self-awareness by researchers of their position in a workers’ movement.

Speaker

Dr Kriangsak Teerakowitkajorn

Founder and Managing Director, Just Economy and Labor Institute

Moderator
Prof. Jack L. Qiu

Professor and Research Director, Department of Communications and
New Media, National University of Singapore

Dr Teerakowitkajorn traced the timeline of platformization in Thailand, discussed how platforms can be conceptualized as an instrument of labour and showed its application in the context of the Global South, and also shared how platforms reproduced local norms of gender division of labour.

Speaker
Prof. Cheryll R. Soriano

Professor, Department of Communication, De La Salle University, Philippines

Moderator
Prof. Jack L. Qiu

Professor and Research Director, Department of Communications and
New Media, National University of Singapore

Prof. Soriano traced the movement from precarity to emerging configurations of solidarity and idealization of entrepreneurial values among crowdworkers (such as remote secretaries and data entry workers) in the Philippines, through digital ethnography on platform workers.

Speakers
Treviliana E. Putri

Research Manager, Center for Digital Society, Faculty of Social and Political Science, Universitas Gadjah, Indonesia

Digital Intelligence Lab Manager, Center for Digital Society, Faculty of Social and Political Science, Universitas Gadjah, Indonesia

Co-organizer
Center for Digital Society, Faculty of Social and Political Science,
Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia

In Indonesia, major platforms such as Grab and Gojek have launched several campaigns promising work flexibility to increase the number of female drivers. This research will critically discuss the working experience of female motorbike taxi (ojek) drivers in Indonesia and the notion of flexibility that is often discussed as an advantage of working in the gig economy. Face-to-face in-depth interviews were conducted in five cities, Yogyakarta, Surabaya, Jakarta, Makassar, and Medan, in Indonesia from July until October 2020. Speakers explained and evaluated the scale and difficulties faced by women on-demand motorcycle riders in Indonesia, based on their research conducted in five cities.

Speaker
Prof. Ping Sun

Assistant Professor, Institute of Journalism and Communication,
The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

Moderator
Prof. Chris K. C. Chan

Director, Centre for Social Innovation Studies, HKIAPS

Analysing interview and survey data on food delivery workers in China between 2018-19, this research has identified a trend of de-flexibilisation, contrary to the claimed affordance of flexibility in platform-mediated work. This is achieved through intertwined labour management tactics, technological engineering and the cultural normative of platform-dependent employment, cultivating what we refer to as “sticky labour”. The speaker explained the development of Chinese food delivery companies and their modes of interaction with platform workers, and then discussed how workers became deflexiblized to suit the need of the companies to compete in the market in recent years.

Speaker
Ms. Xinle Zhong

MPhil in Gender Studies Programme, CUHK

Moderator
Prof. Sealing Cheng

Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, CUHK

Co-organizer
Gender Studies Programme, CUHK

The past few decades have witnessed a desire among queer communities to create families. Yet most existing studies of NRTs remain heteronormative, while current literature on queer families largely focus on Euro-American settings. Drawing on multi-sited ethnographic research conducted in 2019, which includes auto-ethnographies, in-depth interviews, and participant observations, this study attempts to investigate the desire, struggles, and process of negotiating queer women’s cross-border reproductive practices and family-building efforts in contemporary China.

Speakers
Prof. Winton W. T. Au

Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, CUHK

Prof. Ruby Y. S. Lai

Research Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology and Social Policy, Lingnan University

Ms. Carmen Cheung

Journalist, Apple Daily

Executive Director, Association Concerning Sexual Violence Against Women

Commentator
Prof. Susanne Y. P. Choi

Professor, Department of Sociology, CUHK

Moderator
Prof. Raees B. Baig

Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Social Work, CUHK

Scholars from multiple disciplines, representatives from local women’s groups, and journalists were invited to examine the relationship between political conflicts and sexual violence. The webinar was attended by 214 participants.

Speakers
Prof. Karen Grepin

Associate Professor, School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong

Dr Nimisha Vandan

Postdoctoral Fellow, School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong

Ms. Mabel M. P. Au

Chairperson, The Association for the Advancement of Feminism

Ms. Si-si P. S. Liu

Director, Hong Kong Federation of Women's Centres

Director, Hong Kong Women Workers' Association

Mr. Ricky Man K. Chu

Chairperson, Equal Opportunities Commission

Moderators
Prof. Raees B. Baig

Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Social Work, CUHK

Prof. Susanne Y. P. Choi

Professor, Department of Sociology, CUHK

Sponsor

New Asia College, CUHK

Women have been disproportionately affected by the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Restrained movements and social isolation have led to a rise in domestic violence cases around the world. Unpaid care work by women has increased. The economic impact of COVID-19 might have aggravated the financial strain of women who engaged in part-time or informal employment. However, there has been little discussion in Hong Kong on the gendered impacts of COVID-19. Through this workshop, we aimed to increase public awareness and generate policy suggestions to the government on how to combat the gendered impacts of COVID-19 and protect women’s rights in this acute situation. The workshop was attended by 87 participants.

Speaker
Ms. Pearl Wong

Founder, Queer Theology Academy

Moderator
Prof. Ivy W. Wong

Associate Professor, Gender Studies Programme, CUHK

The GRC is organizing a “Gender and Social Movements” pre-conference webinar series featuring activists who have been asked to share their experiences in mobilizing and bringing about change for gender justice. In the first webinar, the GRC invited Ms Pearl Wong, Founder of the Queer Theology Academy, to share her experiences in promoting queer theology in churches in Hong Kong. The webinar was attended by 30 participants.