Chapter 5 explores xiangchou as a materially and culturally embedded concept in the 2010s, which represented an ‘era of crises’ in China. The chapter frames crises as both the acute global COVID-19 pandemic, as well as through longer-term and more embedded ‘crises,’ categorized broadly as: the ’big city disease’, the existential crisis of meaninglessness, and the three-rural issue. Discursive analysis of various government text illustrates how different state organs can invoke the language of xiangchou to describe both a symptom of such crises as well as a response and potential remedy to these crises. Various case studies also demonstrate how feelings of homesickness and the inevitable separations from those ‘left behind’ can compel various forms of ‘rural return,’ but to varying effects and opportunities.

During the first year of the global COVID-19 pandemic, Ghana’s creative arts communities captured its complex facets through various art forms. In Chapter 8, I focus on how these spontaneous artistic responses afforded the opportunity to examine in real time how grassroots arts and bottom-up social responses to health crises influenced health communication. Artists channelled ‘creative practices of the imagination’ regarding COVID-19, highlighting a mutually constitutive relationship between lay responses to the pandemic and what artists produced. The COVID arts they produced functioned in three arts and health domains: health education and knowledge production, disease prevention, and (indirectly) contributing to COVID-19 policy development. These intersecting functions converged on the science, culture and politics of COVID-19. I outline the subtle and radical ways artists translated the science, culture and politics of the COVID-19 pandemic to Ghanaian communities at home and abroad. I reflect on the insights these new art forms present for health communication during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

This chapter discusses possible interpretations for the failure of COVID-19 tracking apps during the pandemic in the Western world in the context of digitalisation. It revisits the impact of digitalisation in public law and examines specific norms governing the right to health. The chapter explores key barriers, including privacy concerns, technological limitations, and public distrust, that contributed to the inefficacy of these digital tools. By analysing these challenges, the study identifies lessons for future digital health policies, emphasising the need for transparent governance, legal safeguards, and public engagement. It argues that human rights law must evolve to better balance privacy with public health objectives, ensuring digital technologies enhance rather than undermine fundamental rights.

The right to education is a human right recognised by a number of international legal instruments and the civilised world. Agreement about the language used as the medium of instruction, however, is not so easily achieved – should it be available only in the official language or should it also be provided in minority languages? Is there a right or even a duty to learn the official language? There have been recent developments in international law clarifying this issue, and problems were also identified during the COVID-19 pandemic. There is abundant research that the COVID-19 pandemic had more negative effects on ethnic and national minorities than on the majority population, including in the field of education. Facilitation of access to education was ensured mostly in the official language, while students studying in minority languages were left behind.

This chapter examines the evolution of China’s innovation system over the past thirty-five years, detailing how government policies, R&D investment, and strategic international engagement have spurred a remarkable surge in patent activity and technological advancement. It outlines the transition from a weak, planned economy to one where domestic enterprises dominate innovation, emphasizing the shift from quantity-focused utility model patents to an increasing quality of invention patents. The analysis highlights the role of FDI and regional dynamics in boosting local innovation while comparing domestic and foreign patenting trends. Key external challenges are discussed, including the impacts of the Belt and Road Initiative, the Sino-US trade war and technology decoupling, and the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Looking forward, the chapter proposes future directions in sectors such as electric vehicle batteries, semiconductors, and digital startups, stressing that achieving sustained independent innovation will require enhanced basic research, collaborative international efforts, and a move beyond reliance on government policy alone.

This chapter discusses the broader role and impact of analytics science in improving various aspects of society. It introduces what the book is about, and what the reader should expect to learn from reading this book. It also discusses the analytics revolution in the private and public sector, and introduces a key element of the book — insight-driven problem solving — by highlighting its vital role in addressing various societal problems.

Global public health is now seen as a security issue by many nations across the globe. Aside from naturally occurring outbreaks of infectious disease, deliberate attacks involving biological agents have emerged as a major security concern and a source of public anxiety in recent decades. Though many public health and security experts now recognize that effective prevention and response to these threats depend on building resilient public health systems around the world and international cooperation in maintaining them, it is unclear that the kind of sustained political will and economic resources exist to address such a massive undertaking that would need to take a holistic approach to human security and incorporate measures addressing: poverty; food insecurity; environmental degradation; lack of access to basic health-care services; adequate education; housing; sanitation and clean water; as well as more conventional aspects of security.

The right to life is the preeminent human right - without it, all other rights are nugatory. Yet, the scope of the protection afforded by the right is contested, particularly the extent to which States are obligated to protect life. This chapter examines the protection which the common law and the ECHR affords to the right to life, noting that under the common law, the courts have tended towards a recognition of the value or sanctity of life, as distinct from a right to life. In contrast, Article 2 ECHR very clearly enshrines a right to life and imposes obligations on States to ensure its protection. There is a considerable corpus of case law concerning the scope of the right in Article 2 including a number of cases from UK courts which centre on the jurisdictional reach of the right and its enforceability under the Human Rights Act 1998. This chapter considers the protective potential of the right to life in specific contexts including in response to climate change and domestic abuse. A separate chapter examines specific issues surrounding STATE regulation of the beginning and end of life.

This chapter examines the likelihood of voluntary compliance in public health contexts, with emphasis on lessons learned during COVID-19 regarding trust in mask wearing, social distancing, and vaccine uptake.

The chapter demonstrates how religious freedom and robust pluralism can be catalysts for social healing – benefiting individuals and communities, building social capital, and encouraging solidarity. The chapter concludes with four case studies of bridging religious divides to achieve positive change, address injustice, reach compromise, and overcome adversity.

During times of crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, policymakers and the public reveal a strong preference for fairness in pricing even when that would reduce efficiency. For example, they support the application of price gouging laws that prevent prices for necessities from skyrocketing but probably also dampen incentives for firms to produce more and alleviate the shortage. More generally, a growing body of research reveals that consumers have a strong preference for fairness over wealth maximization. This suggests that in making price policy, governments should abandon neoclassical economics and its wealth maximization criterion in favor of an approach that treats fairness in pricing as a first principle and paramount value. The chapter considers the implications of this "neo-Kantian" approach to price policy for antitrust law and policy in particular.