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Begin New Search Topic COVID-19 Content Type Video Publication Year within 25 Years

1. The Wuhan Lockdown

Author:
Guobin Yang and Qin Gao
Publication Date:
02-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
Abstract:
In this book talk, the author tells the dramatic story of the Wuhan lockdown in the voices of the city’s own people. Using a vast archive of more than 6,000 diaries, the sociologist Guobin Yang vividly depicts how the city coped during the crisis. He analyzes how the state managed—or mismanaged—the lockdown and explores how Wuhan’s residents responded by taking on increasingly active roles. Yang demonstrates that citizen engagement—whether public action or the civic inaction of staying at home—was essential in the effort to fight the pandemic. The book features compelling stories of citizens and civic groups in their struggle against COVID-19: physicians, patients, volunteers, government officials, feminist organizers, social media commentators, and even aunties loudly swearing at party officials. These snapshots from the lockdown capture China at a critical moment, revealing the intricacies of politics, citizenship, morality, community, and digital technology. This event is part of the 2021-2022 lecture series on “COVID-19 Impacts and Responses in China and Beyond” and is co-sponsored by the Weatherhead East Asian Institute and the China Center for Social Policy.
Topic:
Crisis Management, Pandemic, Domestic Policy, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
China and Asia

2. Chinese Trust in Government: A Response Pattern Approach

Author:
Cary Wu and Yao Lu
Publication Date:
02-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
Abstract:
Chinese citizens have high trust in their government is well documented. Recent data show that this remains true during the COVID-19 crisis. Nonetheless, a long-standing debate is whether Chinese trust in government is genuine or simply a reflection of political fear. To offer further insights, in this article I adopt a response pattern approach that shifts the focus from how much people trust (the level of trust) to how people trust (the pattern of trust). Analyzing data from multiple sources, I consider the homogeneity and heterogeneity in how political trust is expressed among diverse populations (e.g., children vs adults) and in different situations (e.g., taped vs. not taped). I identify ten specific patterns that consistently suggest Chinese trust in government may not be simply reduced to a misrepresentation out of political fear. This study illustrates that examining the often-overlooked patterns of how people express their attitudes within different segments of the population and in different contexts provides a means to test whether the expressed attitudes are fake or genuine. This event is sponsored by the Weatherhead East Asian Institute and cosponsored by the China Center for Social Policy.
Topic:
Government, Public Opinion, Citizenship, COVID-19, and Trust
Political Geography:
China and Asia

3. How Transnational Education Transforms Privilege

Author:
Yingyi Ma and Yao Lu
Publication Date:
03-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
Abstract:
This study examines two cohorts of Chinese international students studying in the U.S. whose privilege is challenged and sometimes upended before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. This research questions the dominant framing of privilege centering on the notion of ease, as informed by the western scholarship on elite education. Drawing from the power structure of international education and rising geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and China, this study concludes that transnational education infuses much anxiety and fragility into the lived experiences of international students, who have experienced the status loss from the privileged majority to the marginalized minority. COVID had exacerbated this loss. This study contributes to the scholarship on elites by interrogating the western-centric notion of privilege. This event is part of the 2021-2022 lecture series on “COVID-19 Impacts and Responses in China and Beyond” and is sponsored by the Weatherhead East Asian Institute and cosponsored by Columbia's China Center for Social Policy.
Topic:
Education, Geopolitics, Students, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
China and United States of America

4. Lecture: The Evolution of the Civic Space in Modern African Democracy

Author:
Idayat Hassan and Kwame Karikari
Publication Date:
11-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Ghana Center for Democratic Development
Abstract:
Over the last decade, the world has witnessed a decline in democracy and the closing of civic spaces – the bedrock of democratic society through which citizens and civil society organizations are able to organize, participate and communicate without hindrance. These two phenomena have dominated conversations on various platforms globally and have intensified since the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Democratic backsliding and shrinking civic space in our part of the world represent a major setback for the region and its people. This lecture seeks to deliberate on these evolving issues and offer practical recommendations aimed at influencing urgent interventions that will help halt democratic backsliding and the closing of democratic civic spaces.
Topic:
Civil Society, Governance, Democracy, COVID-19, and Democratic Backsliding
Political Geography:
Africa and Ghana

5. Migrant Worker Rights in Singapore: Advocacy, Legal Frameworks and Prospects for Change

Author:
Debbie Fordyce and Laavanya Kathiravelu
Publication Date:
12-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
Abstract:
Debbie Fordyce, President of Transient Workers Council Too, and Laavanya Kathiravelu, Associate professor at Nanyang Technological University, will discuss their advocacy and research on migrant worker issues in Singapore. COVID-19 highlighted some of the structural problems faced by the large population of migrant workers in Singapore. Systemic problems include high recruitment costs, restricted job mobility, employer’s right to terminate the worker at will, and weak wage protection. Our speakers will address these issues and what might be done to protect the rights and needs of migrant workers in Singapore.
Topic:
Advocacy, COVID-19, Migrant Workers, and Migrants
Political Geography:
Singapore and Southeast Asia

6. Polling London: Londoners' Priorities ahead of the Local Elections

Publication Date:
03-2022
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
On Thursday 5 May, Londoners will go to the polls to elect nearly 2000 councillors and 5 new mayors across 32 boroughs, for the first time since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. In association with YouGov, the Mile End Institute has polled Londoners to find out how they intend to vote on 5 May, how living in the Capital during the Covid-19 pandemic has changed their perception of the City and how much trust they have in the Metropolitan Police. At this Breakfast Webinar, held on Thursday 24 March, Farah Hussain (Polling London Project Manager) and Dr Patrick Diamond (Director of the MEI) present our findings, before Lewis Baston, Jenna Goldberg, and Sadiya Akram give their thoughts on the significance of these results and what they tell us about politics and policy in London.
Topic:
Elections, Domestic Politics, Local, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
United Kingdom, Europe, and London

7. Stories of Kinship, Care, and COVID-19: Connecting Nepal and Himalayan New York

Author:
Sienna Craig
Publication Date:
04-2021
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
Abstract:
For centuries, people from Mustang, Nepal, have relied on agriculture, pastoralism, and trade as a way of life. Seasonal migrations to South Asian cities for trade as well as temporary wage labo abroad and Mustang-based tourism have shaped their experiences for decades. Yet, more recently, permanent migrations to New York City are reshaping lives and social worlds. Drawing on more than two decades of fieldwork and friendship with people in and from Mustang, The Ends of Kinship: Connecting Himalayan Lives between Nepal and New York, the book on which this presentation is based, combines narrative ethnography and short fiction to explore how individuals, families, and communities care for each other and carve out spaces of belonging in and through diaspora, at the nexus of environmental, economic, and cultural change. This presentation will also discuss how COVID-19 has impacted the lives of Himalayan and Tibetan New Yorkers, and how regional cultural practices and Tibetan Buddhist philosophies are shaping responses to this pandemic. This event was organized by the Modern Tibetan Studies Program and cosponsored by the Weatherhead East Asian Institute at Columbia University.
Topic:
Agriculture, Environment, Diaspora, Ethnography, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
New York, Asia, Nepal, and Tibet

8. New game in the (post)covid Balkans?

Author:
Engjellushe Morina, Florian Bieber, Vuk Viksanovic, Jovana Marovic, Faruk Ajeti, and Vedran Dzihic
Publication Date:
03-2021
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Austrian Institute for International Affairs (OIIP)
Abstract:
The global pandemic is changing the world. The Western Balkans were hit severely and are currently struggling with the rapid increase in numbers of Covid-19 infections. The state-of-the-play in the region is shaped by the dynamics of the pandemics but also by underlying structural problems, by the “return of geopolitics’ in the Balkans and question marks put behind the EU-Enlargement and new transatlantic relations. What we see at display right now is a sort of 'vaccine nationalism' threatening to replace the European solidarity. We see China rapidly increasing its influence, EU struggling to find a strong common policy towards the region and new expectations (for some) or even fears (for some others) related to the new Biden Administration. The debate seeks to explore this new game in the (post)covid Balkans. Are non-Western players using the pandemic with their ‘vaccine politics’ to fill Western’s gap or to challenge Western’s influence in the Balkans? What is the role of the EU and what the future prospects for enlargement? Will China’s increased influence in the Western Balkans hinder its transatlantic aspirations? How will the Biden administration meet the new challenges in the region? In cooperation with the Ministry of Defense (bmlv), the Austrian Marshall Plan Foundation, and the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR)
Topic:
Geopolitics, Transatlantic Relations, Vaccine, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
China, Europe, and Balkans

9. China’s COVID Response and the State of Local Finance in the Xi Jinping Era

Author:
Christine Wong, Carl Riskin, and Qin Gao
Publication Date:
09-2021
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
Abstract:
In China’s decentralised fiscal system, since virtually all vital public services such as education, healthcare, and social welfare are provided by local governments, a well-functioning intergovernmental fiscal system is essential to ensure local governments have adequate incentives and resources to perform their role. Since 1978, China has overhauled its public finances to create a system able to finance government operations, support economic growth, and supply revenues for the government’s ambitious industrial policies and international initiatives. The COVID-19 pandemic has posed new challenges to China’s public finance that is likely to continue in the years to come. This lecture provides an update on local finance through three decades of reform including those implemented since 2013, when a comprehensive package was announced, with promise of a realignment of central-local revenues and expenditures by 2020. The findings are that local fiscal status has deteriorated since 2015 due to a combination of slowing growth, tax cuts, and reform pressures. This has already led to a decline in social spending as a share of GDP, threatening to reverse some recent gains in improving public services and undermining other policy goals. This event is part of the 2021-2022 lecture series on “COVID-19 Impacts and Responses in China and Beyond” and is co-sponsored by the China Center for Social Policy and the APEC Study Center at Columbia University
Topic:
Reform, Finance, Fiscal Policy, Xi Jinping, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
China and Asia

10. Family Caregivers in the Post-COVID Labor Market in China

Author:
Haijing Dai and Qin Gao
Publication Date:
12-2021
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
Abstract:
The COVID pandemic has brought family caregivers in China new challenges to balance work and family needs. While sudden quarantine requirements and unexpected suspensions of schools and care institutions demand more flexibility from work, the economic slowdown reduces job opportunities and increases competition in the employment market. Based on a recent respondent-driven survey and 11 in-depth interviews of company directors and HR managers in Guangdong Province, the study explores how representatives of employers, some of whom are family caregivers, view and understand the dilemmas of family caregivers under such circumstances, and how they treat family caregivers in job recruitment, performance evaluation, and promotion decisions. Preliminary data analysis uncovers unfriendly attitudes of employers towards family caregivers, especially mothers of young children and men taking care of aging parents, as well as prevalent discourses of gender norms, individual choice, and personal responsibility. Implications of the findings for social inequality in China and policymaking will also be discussed. This event is part of the 2021-2022 lecture series on “COVID-19 Impacts and Responses in China and Beyond” and is co-sponsored by the Weatherhead East Asian Institute and the China Center for Social Policy.
Topic:
Family, Domestic Policy, COVID-19, Labor Market, and Caregivers
Political Geography:
China and Asia

11. After the Virus: Lessons from The Past For A Better Future

Publication Date:
11-2021
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
Hilary Cooper and Simon Szreter have published a powerful manifesto for change post-Covid-19. It argues that the world needs ‘a new morality’ to recover from the pandemic and to prepare for future crises - and that Britain’s own history points the way. In 'After the Virus', they show how decades of neoliberalism and austerity left us vulnerable to the effects of Covid-19; they show how important history is for British and global public policy today, going back 400 years to look at Elizabeth I’s innovative Poor Laws, the world’s first universal welfare system; and they present practical proposals, inspired by our own history, that will promote a morality of nurturing, not exploiting, people and the planet.
Topic:
Governance, Neoliberalism, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

12. Where Next for the Liberal Democrats?

Publication Date:
07-2021
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
In partnership with the think-tank Social Liberal Forum, we were delighted to welcome you to ‘Where Next for the Liberal Democrats?’. The panel considered the recent electoral performance of the Liberal Democrats in UK-wide, national, and local elections, the role of the Party in shaping the policy agenda in British politics, and the broader challenges to political liberalism in the aftermath of Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic.
Topic:
Brexit, Domestic Politics, Liberalism, Political Parties, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

13. A Future Well and Fair: A Post-Covid Vision of the Welfare State

Publication Date:
06-2021
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
This event launched the report from the project, 'A Future Well and Fair: A Post-Covid Vision for the Welfare State', by Paul Copeland, Mary Daly and Alistair Leitch and is supported by Research England. The report argues that if the UK is to become a prosperous, healthy, fair and more equitable society, it needs to acknowledge that the current system of welfare is effectively broken. Reforming existing policy areas in isolation of each other will do little to move the welfare state beyond its current limitations. It provides a visionary and realistic future welfare agenda based on five principles: repositioning; reforming; reimagining; regulating, and revitalising.
Topic:
Social Policy, Pandemic, COVID-19, and Welfare State
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

14. Professor Sophie Harman on the Traps Leaders Can Fall into during a Public Health Emergency.

Publication Date:
03-2021
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
Professor Sophie Harman discusses the five traps political leaders can fall into when it comes to a public health emergency as part of the 'Lessons on a crisis' series, presented by Evan Davis, for BBC Radio 4.
Topic:
Governance, Domestic Politics, Public Health, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

15. Populism and the Pandemic

Author:
Catherine Fieschi, Matthew Goodwin, Paul Taggart, and Tim Bale
Publication Date:
05-2020
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
UK in a Changing Europe, King's College London
Abstract:
At this event in our #IsolationInsight virtual series, our speakers discussed what populist leaders are doing in the Covid-19 crisis, how they are exploiting it, and the impact this is likely to have on politics.
Topic:
Politics, European Union, Brexit, Populism, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

16. Covid 19 and post Brexit migration policy

Author:
Alberto Costa, Jonathan Portes, Lauren McLaren, Marina Fernandez Reino, and Tim Bale
Publication Date:
06-2020
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
UK in a Changing Europe, King's College London
Abstract:
Our recent #IsolationInsight virtual event looked at what the UK’s post Brexit immigration regime could and should look like, considering also public opinion on immigration and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Speakers: Alberto Costa, Conservative MP for South Leicestershire Professor Jonathan Portes, senior fellow at the UK in a Changing Europe Professor Lauren McLaren, @University of Leicester Marina Fernandez Reino, Migration Observatory Chair: Professor Tim Bale, deputy director at the UK in a Changing Europe
Topic:
Economics, Migration, Politics, Immigration, Economy, Brexit, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

17. The economics of Brexit and Covid-19

Author:
Ben Chu, Jonathan Portes, Meredith Crowley, Gemma Tetlow, and Anand Menon
Publication Date:
06-2020
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
UK in a Changing Europe, King's College London
Abstract:
Our recent #IsolationInsight event discussed the economics of the coronavirus pandemic and the UK’s departure from the EU. Speakers : Ben Chu, economics editor, @The Independent ; Professor Jonathan Portes, senior fellow, The UK in a Changing Europe ; Dr Meredith Crowley, senior fellow, The UK in a Changing Europe ; Dr Gemma Tetlow, chief economist, @Institute for Government ; Chair: Professor Anand Menon, director, The UK in a Changing Europe
Topic:
Economics, European Union, Brexit, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

18. Economics of Covid-19 and Brexit, revisited

Author:
Ben Chu, Meredith Crowley, Gemma Tetlow, Thomas Sampson, and Anand Menon
Publication Date:
10-2020
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
UK in a Changing Europe, King's College London
Abstract:
At this Isolation Insight webinar, panelists discussed the economics of the Covid-19 pandemic and the UK's exit from the EU, six months after lockdown began and with less than three months left of the transition period. Speakers: Ben Chu, economics editor, The Independent; Meredith Crowley, senior fellow, UK in a Changing Europe; Gemma Tetlow, chief economist, Institute for Government; Thomas Sampson, associate professor, London School of Economics; Chair: Anand Menon, director, UK in a Changing Europe
Topic:
Economics, European Union, Brexit, Transition, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

19. Health in Changing Times

Author:
Paul Darragh, Bernie McCrory, Damien McCallion, Philippa Whitford, Paul Williams, Layla McCay, and Alison Moore
Publication Date:
11-2020
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
UK in a Changing Europe, King's College London
Abstract:
This event is part of the ESRC’s Festival of Social Science 2020, which we are organising in partnership with the University of Sheffield, Queen’s University Belfast and Shout Out UK. Speakers will discuss the ‘Brexit, Health and Me’ film, which reports on research by academics following the EU referendum. Speakers are: Dr Paul Darragh, Member of BMA UK Board of Science, BMA UK Council; Bernie McCrory, Chief Officer, Cross Border Health and Social Care, Northern Ireland; Damien McCallion Director General, Cross Border Health and Social Care, Northern Ireland; Dr Philippa Whitford, MP for Central Ayrshire; Dr Paul Williams, former MP for Stockton South 2017-2019; Dr Layla McCay, Director of International Relations, NHS Confederation; Chair: Alison Moore, Correspondent, Health Service Journal
Topic:
Health Care Policy, European Union, Brexit, COVID-19, and National Health Service (NHS)
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

20. Labour: a year after the election

Author:
Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Lucy Powell, John Curtice, Sienna Rodgers, and Anand Menon
Publication Date:
12-2020
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
UK in a Changing Europe, King's College London
Abstract:
The outcome of the 2019 general election was the worst in the Labour Party’s history. One year on from the vote the UK in a Changing Europe and LabourList are putting on an event looking at how the party has changed over the last 12 months and what it needs to do to win in 2024. Speakers are: Bell Ribeiro-Addy, MP for Streatham, Labour Party; Lucy Powell, Shadow Minister for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and MP for Manchester Central, Labour Party; Sir John Curtice, Senior Fellow, UK in a Changing Europe; Sienna Rodgers, Editor, LabourList; Chair: Anand Menon, Director, UK in a Changing Europe
Topic:
Elections, European Union, Brexit, Political Parties, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe