Publishing details for: Governing China's Population: From Leninist to Neoliberal Biopolitics, Susan Greenhalgh and Edwin A. Winckler. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2005. xvi + 394 pp.

Governing China's Population: From Leninist to Neoliberal Biopolitics [Book Review]

Anthropology of Policy: Critical Perspectives on Governance and Power. Cris Shore and Susan Wright. eds. New York: Routledge, 1997. 294 pp.

Anthropology of Policy: Critical Perspectives on Governance and Power

Background: The digital divide persists despite broad accessibility of mobile tools. The relationship between the digital divide and health disparities reflects social status in terms of access to resources and health outcomes; however, data on this relationship are limited from developing countries such as China. Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the current rates of access to mobile tools (Internet use and mobile phone ownership) among older Chinese individuals (aged ≥45 years), the predictors of access at individual and community levels, and the relationship between access to mobile tools and health outcomes. Methods: We drew cross-sectional data from a national representative survey, the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS), which focused on the older population (aged ≥45 years). We used two-level mixed logistic regression models, controlling for unobserved heterogeneity at the community and individual levels for data analysis. In addition to individual-level socioeconomic status (SES), we included community-level resources such as neighborhood amenities, health care facilities, and community organizations. Health outcomes were measured by self-reported health and absence of disability based on validated scales. Results: Among the 18,215 participants, 6.51% had used the Internet in the past month, and 83% owned a mobile phone. In the multivariate models, Internet use was strongly associated with SES, rural or urban residence, neighborhood amenities, community resources, and geographic region. Mobile phone ownership was strongly associated with SES and rural/urban residence but not so much with neighborhood amenities and community resources. Internet use was a significant predictor of self-reported health status, and mobile phone ownership was significantly associated with having disability even after controlling for potential confounders at the individual and community levels. Conclusions: This study is one of the first to examine digital divide and its relationship with health disparities in China. The data showed a significant digital divide in China, especially in the older population. Internet access is still limited to people with higher SES; however, the mobile phone has been adopted by the general population. The digital divide is associated with not only individual SES but also community resources. Future electronic health (eHealth) programs need to consider the accessibility of mobile tools and develop culturally appropriate programs for various social groups.

The Digital Divide and Health Disparities in China: Evidence From a National Survey and Policy Implications.

Gender inequality remains both a pressing social issue and a fruitful area of social science research. This edited volume seeks to examine gender inequality and the production of well-being in Europe from an interdisciplinary perspective that is perhaps more feminist economics than sociology. The chapters draw on historical and contemporary European examples and offer a somewhat different take (both theoretically and methodologically) on what is usually found in American sociology journals. This book takes a broader view on gender inequalities and the production of wellbeing, with the ‘‘capability approach’’ serving as the theoretical connection between the chapters. The chapters reemphasize that social reproduction is more complex than the production of goods. The various authors also call for and (in the empirical chapters) take into account the socio-political and economic context. An entire chapter is dedicated to the introduction of the capability approach (Chapter Two). But the description of the theory remains lacking amidst numerous references that point the reader towards clarification elsewhere. The authors posit that well-being is an important outcome, and that the production of well-being itself needs to be included in the study of gender inequality (Chapter One), while also demanding that women are not just another vulnerable group (Chapter Four). Chapter Three further challenges conventional notions about the evolution of the ‘‘modern family’’ in the wake of the industrialization process, and argues that the fragility of families is not a novel concept. These theoretical chapters call for a more multidimensional assessment of gender inequality, and remind readers of the importance of the concept and production of well-being. The topics covered in the two empirical parts of the book are very diverse in terms of subject, methodology, and historical time period. The first empirical section ‘‘Gender Care and Work’’ is held together by the challenge to the idea of women as passive victims and in need of assistance. Chapter Five demonstrates widows’ relative economic independence in urban Sweden and Finland from 1890 to 1910, and Chapter Six shows the centrality of female relatives in caring for extended family members in times of crisis. Chapter Seven reaffirms the idea that intergenerational support is not one-sided, and those often thought of as needing care due to older age are also givers of care and other forms of support. The findings from the chapters emphasize the importance of non-monetary transfers outside the market system. The theme of caregiving is readdressed in later chapters which illustrate how home caregiving in Belgium is situated between the public/market divide (Chapter Nine) and the problems of combining market work with caregiving, especially for those in the ‘‘sandwich generation’’ (Chapter Ten). In a seeming departure from studies in the capability approach tradition, Chapter Eight is a more typical time-use study that examines the gender asymmetry in unpaid labor in Italy. The results are not novel as women are found to do more unpaid work, especially in couples with children. The second empirical part of the book focuses on the intra-household allocation of resources. Three of the five chapters in this section center primarily on the nineteenth century, examining consumption patterns in Spain (Chapter 11), gender differences in children’s schooling in Switzerland (Chapter 12), and the differences in the treatment of and opportunities for celibate men and women in the Pyrenees (Chapter 13). These chapters illustrate gender differences, but not in

One Country, Two Societies: Rural-Urban Inequality in Contemporary China

Bodies of Difference: Experiences of Disability and Institutional Advocacy in the Making of Modern China

https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/langlo/PIIS2214-109X(15)00042-X.pdf

The internet hospital: an emerging innovation in China

Aims To understand the working experiences and career trajectories of male nurses in China. Background Compared with developed countries, men were far more under-represented in the nursing profession in China. Little is known about the working experiences of Chinese male nurses and the contextual factors that contribute to their low participation rate in the nursing profession. Methods In-depth interviews with twenty-five male nurses and two hospital administrators were conducted. All interviews were analysed using thematic analysis. Results Chinese male nurses had better career prospects and promotion chances compared with female nurses. The extremely low participation rate of men in nursing was related to the prejudice among the general public as well as the low professional status and salary. Two unique contextual factors influenced the career trajectories of male nurses in China: (1) the major assignment mechanism in the college entrance examination and (2) the implementation of the two-child policy. Conclusion Although Chinese male nurses enjoyed many advantages compared with female nurses, they also encountered many difficulties related to working in a female-dominated profession. Implications for nursing management Appropriate measures should be taken to shift public attitudes towards male nurses, improve the professionalization of nursing and promote gender diversity and equity.

The Working Experiences of Male Nurses in China: Implications for Male Nurse Recruitment and Retention

Objective The paper characterizes outpatient communication in a major cancer hospital in southern China with regard to the structure, style and focus of doctor-patient communication. Method Fifty-one encounters between doctors and patients were recorded in the outpatient department of the cancer hospital and analysed inductively to identify patterns of doctor-patient outpatient communication. Results Outpatient communication in the cancer hospital is characterized by structuralized conversation, doctor domination of the conversation and a focus on technology during communication. These characteristics suggest an extreme inequality of power between Chinese doctors and patients at the individual level. They are also shaped by the institutional environment of Chinese hospitals. Discussion Measures should be taken at both the interpersonal and institutional level to improve doctor-patient communication. At the micro-interpersonal level, public education and professional skills training are needed to improve communication and promote mutual understanding between patients and doctors. At the macro-institutional level, changes are needed in terms of transforming the structural factors that shape doctor-patient communication. Conclusions Structuralized conversation, doctor domination of the conversation and a focus on technology during outpatient encounters present challenges to effective doctor-patient communication. These patterns are shaped by the institutional environment of Chinese hospitals and suggest the extreme power imbalance between Chinese doctors and patients.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/hex.12890

Outpatient communication patterns in a cancer hospital in China: A qualitative study of doctor-patient encounters.

This article shows how the Internet and mobile technologies are being adopted by Chinese hospitals to reduce the difficulties that patients face in obtaining hospital services. It presents the ways...

Using technological innovation to improve health care utilization in China’s hospitals: the emerging ‘online’ health service delivery

In the 1960s and 1970s, China’s barefoot doctor system was acclaimed worldwide for providing inexpensive and equally accessible medical care for rural populations. In the 1980s, with the advent of market reform, the barefoot doctor system came to an end. Many barefoot doctors either became private doctors or gave up medical practice. More than three decades have passed since this dramatic change, and barefoot doctors seem to have been forgotten. However, the legacy of the barefoot doctor system is still felt in the hardship of aging former barefoot doctors who now find themselves pensionless. Based on ethnographic research in a county in Sichuan Province from 2011 to 2012, this article explores the experience of a group of former barefoot doctors to observe their transition in post-reform China, and their struggle for payment, pension, and status in recent years. It records the change these doctors experienced from barefoot doctors working under very difficult conditions in the collective era, to individual doctors in the market era who struggle with qualification requirements, market competition, and selfsupport, to the newly ambiguous status of village doctors, who constitute an important part of the primary health care network but are still marginalised in the health care system.

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Jiong Tu

Papers

The internet hospital: an emerging innovation in China

The Working Experiences of Male Nurses in China: Implications for Male Nurse Recruitment and Retention

Outpatient communication patterns in a cancer hospital in China: A qualitative study of doctor-patient encounters.

Using technological innovation to improve health care utilization in China’s hospitals: the emerging ‘online’ health service delivery

The Lost Generation. “Barefoot Doctors” in Post-reform China