Book review: communities of complicity: everyday ethics in rural China by Hans Steinmüller

Everyday life in contemporary rural China is characterized by an increased sense of moral challenge and uncertainty, in which ordinary people often find themselves caught between the moral frameworks of capitalism, Maoism, and the Chinese tradition. Hans Steinmüller’s ethnographic study of the village of Zhongba, in Hubei Province, central China, is an attempt to grasp the ethical reflexivity of everyday life in rural China. This should be of interest to scholars and students of Chinese rural change, local politics and culture, as well as to anthropologists of “ordinary ethics” beyond China Studies, writes Charlotte Goodburn

Genome sequence of the parainfluenza virus 5 strain that persistently infects AGS cells

This work, including the efforts of Richard E Randall, was funded by Wellcome Trust (101788/Z/13/Z). This work, including the efforts of Steve Goodbourn, was funded by Wellcome Trust (101792/Z/13/Z).We have sequenced the parainfluenza virus 5 strain that persistently infects the commonly used AGS human cell line without causing cytopathology. This virus is most closely related to human strains, indicating that it may have originated from biopsy material or from laboratory contamination during generation of the cell line.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

The Silchester 'Nymphaeum'

A carved coping stone found on the site of a spring near the amphitheatre, Silchester and first reported in 1873 was re-discovered in 2014. The stone does not compare in its carved detail with coping stones from the amphitheatres at Chester and London nor with that recovered from the West Gate, Silchester in 1890, nor does its basal width correspond with that of the arena wall of the Silchester amphitheatre. It is likely to have formed part of a monumental basin similar to that found at Coventina’s Well, Northumberland and commemorating the location of a spring and its associated (unknown) deity. Similarity with the type and decoration of architectural stone used in the construction of the forum basilica suggests a Hadrianic-Antonine date

Educating Migrant Children:The effects of rural-urban migration on access to primary education

The Chinese state places serious restrictions on the ability of the children of migrant workers to access education in the city. To enrol in city state schools, migrant children need many official documents, which few have; are required to take entry examinations based on different curricula; and face strict quota systems. Most migrant parents therefore send their children to migrant-run private schools, the majority of which are unregistered and of dubious quality. Many are expensive and represent a significant burden to migrant parents. Furthermore, unlike in many developing countries, in China the state opposes the provision of private education to migrants, and frequently closes down schools. Some researchers have suggested that this is a deliberate tactic by the state to reduce long-term rural-urban migration by ensuring that migrants are unable to integrate into the city. This paper draws on six months of interviews with over 150 migrant parents and children, as well as teaching and observing classes in semi-legal migrant schools, conducted in Shenzhen in 2008. It assesses the impact of state policies on migrant children, by comparing their educational experiences before and after migration, and suggests that although the quality of education improved for those few children able to enter city state schools, for the vast majority of migrant children their education in the city is significantly worse than in their native villages. In addition, for girls, and especially those who are unregistered or have older siblings, there may be the added problem of later school enrolment in the city. This paper provides a counter to much recent research on adult migrants, which argues that migration is overwhelmingly beneficial

Migrant girls in Shenzhen:gender, education and the urbanisation of aspiration

This paper examines the impact of rural-urban migration on primary-school-aged migrant girls in China, providing important data on this unexplored group as well as drawing several larger conclusions about the evolving relationship between migration and women’s autonomy. Much recent literature has focused on Chinese young unmarried women migrants. However, there has been no attempt to distinguish migration’s effects on children by gender, and little research on the “new generation” of married women migrants. This paper focuses on two aspects of migrant girls’ wellbeing, education and migration satisfaction, comparing girls’ assessments with those of their parents, particularly mothers. It analyses differences between girls’ and parents’ views, arguing that specific parental concerns about daughters shape girls’ futures in a way not applied to migrant boys. A further, broader, implication of this analysis is that certain benefits of migration, previously thought to apply exclusively to single women, extend also to married women, influencing mothers when forming goals for their daughters’ futures

Learning from migrant education:A case study of the schooling of rural migrant children in Beijing

This paper focuses on the educational opportunities available to rural migrant children in Beijing. On the basis of fieldwork conducted in migrant communities in 2004-2005, I conclude that administrative and financial barriers, as well as discrimination, prevent migrant children from entering state schools. I discuss the quality of education available in unlicensed private schools, followed by an analysis of the possible reasons for the state's exclusion of migrant children from state schools and its hostility to migrants' self-provision of education. </p