Volume 91

This paper reexamines the foundations of political legitimacy by shifting focus from virtue, justice, or consent to the management of conflict. Traditional theories, from Locke’s consent-based social contract to Rawls’s principles of justice, presume a level of agreement and trust that contemporary societies often lack. Drawing on Hobbes’s account of the state of nature and modern theories of collective action, the paper argues that governments exist because conflict is inevitable and cooperation fragile. Their central function is to monopolize force and make collective action possible. Revisiting Machiavelli, the paper contends that legitimacy is not achieved by eliminating conflict but by institutionalizing it. Durable political order depends less on consensus than on the capacity of institutions to channel division into lawful, predictable, and stable forms.

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In recent years, night vision devices, as part of individual-soldier equipment, have increasingly attracted the attention of various enforcement units and enthusiasts. Under these circumstances, domestic night vision manufacturers in China have gradually rose to prominence, breaking the foreign monopoly on the producing and exporting night vision equipment and supplies for the People’s Liberation Army of China and the People’s Police. These night vision devices have also gradually appeared in the promotional videos of the People’s Liberation Army of China and the People’s Police of China. Against this backdrop, this study will mainly focus on the practical applications of night vision equipment, and use modern combat cases, such as the the Cold War-era Falklands War and the early 21st-century Global War on Terror, to discuss its necessity as individual soldier equipment and its current limitations, thereby briefly discussing the possible future development trends of night vision equipment. In conclusion, it is inevitable that night vision devices, as individual soldier equipment, will be widely equipped by the military forces of various countries in the future. Technologically, their development will also focus on enhancing stability and improving combat effectiveness.

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This paper systematically examines the development process, core characteristics, and global dissemination of Chinese online literature. Drawing upon the tradition of Chinese literary heritage, online literature has rapidly expanded with the support of digital platforms and streaming media, demonstrating strong interactivity, high accessibility, and distinctive typification. In this work, we analyze the internal mechanisms of gratification, industrialization, and audience engagement, as well as the overseas spread led by major translation platforms such as Wuxiaworld. The findings show that Chinese online literature has evolved into a highly commercialized ecosystem but also faces the challenge of weakened innovation and literary value under market pressures. Furthermore, the paper explores demographic features of overseas readers and their reading motivations, highlighting cross-cultural differences between domestic and global audiences. This work concludes that fostering thematic and structural innovation is critical for the sustainable international growth of Chinese online literature. These insights provide a theoretical reference for understanding the industrial transformation of literature and its cultural implications in a global context.

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The rube goldberg device refers to a device that achieves a simple yet ingenious function through a series of complex, absurd mechanisms. It has become a cultural symbol in our time. However, due to the uncertainty of cultural traditions in the internet age, different cultural regions have varying understandings of the rube goldberg device. This paper investigates video content about the device on Chinese and American social media platforms and analyzes user comments to explore cultural differences in its cross-cultural communication. The results of this study indicate that this cultural symbol presents different interpretations in the two contexts: on American social media platforms, rational appreciation and discussion are the main focus; on Chinese social media platforms, users tend to project emotions and generate meaning. The conclusions of this study provide a new perspective on cross-cultural communication and understanding in the context of globalization.

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Along with the development of online feminism, social media provides a platform for females to protest the unfair treatment, which includes the abnormal aesthetic canon, and develop females’ subjectivity. Through collecting comments from the Douyin platform, this article analyzes on the impact of digital societal female discipline, consumerism, and neo-feminism to discover how are the standards for female bodies constructed and reproduced in the online space. Multi-model content analysis and thematic analysis are used in the article. The purpose of this study is to addresses the core issues of "how society regulates the body" and "how women assert their subjectivity through digital media". This article discovers that people begin to use online platform to create some beauty standard to females as regulations. Because of all the abnormal beauty standards, the neo-feminism, represent by some female bloggers and inflencers, rise sharply, they use social media platform to begin their protest and use their influence to developing females’ subjectivity. This article indicates how neo-feminism use the internet to make greater impact, and use the impact to move further for changing females’ deep-rooted beauty thoughts.

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Looking at the data on hit movies in the film industry in recent years, the success of these blockbusters isn't by chance. Behind every popular movie, there are complex and unique marketing strategies. What's more, it's essential to balance cultural authenticity and commercial value. Taking *Coco* as an example, this paper will focus on how the movie presents Mexican Día de los Muertos culture and its commercial development logic. Combining cultural commodification theories like Bourdieu's "cultural capital" and Baudrillard's "symbolic consumption," it will analyze three aspects: extracting the cultural core, connecting with universal emotions, and controlling the commercial scale. The goal is to figure out how the movie accurately balances the authenticity of Día de los Muertos culture with its commercial development, and how it achieves the modern transformation of traditional cultural IP—through a deep understanding and respect for cultural spirit, rather than just using cultural elements superficially. This paper aims to provide both theoretical and practical references for the development of Chinese traditional cultural IP.

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In the digital era, algorithms and data systems have profoundly reshaped social relations in China, transforming traditional structures into fluid, dynamic networks. Drawing on Fei Xiaotong's "differential mode of association," which views Chinese society as ego-centered with graded ties, and Zygmunt Bauman's "liquid modernity," emphasizing transient and unbound interactions, this study introduces the concept of a "reversible liquid differential order." This framework captures how social ties form, dissolve, and reconfigure rapidly in digital contexts, particularly on platforms like Xiaohongshu, a social e-commerce app targeting young women. The research explores modular and elastic social relations on Xiaohongshu through a qualitative case study. Data were collected from 20 public notes and approximately 50 related comments under the #LifeSharing tag in 2025, selected for high interaction levels and relevance to relational dynamics. Thematic analysis was employed to code patterns, identifying themes such as temporary connections, algorithm-driven intimacy gradients, and guanxi culture. Findings revealed that Xiaohongshu's algorithms curate personalized content, fostering ephemeral ties through notes, comments, and recommendations, while users adapt with resilience. The study concluded that this reversible order integrates cultural specificity with algorithmic elasticity, enhancing user well-being but also amplifying social anxiety. Theoretically, it advances network analysis for quantifying cultural patterns; practically, it informs platform designs to mitigate relational uncertainties in digital China.

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In recent years, the economy in the border area between China and Myanmar has developed rapidly, attracting a large number of Myanmar workers to continuously pour into Yunnan Province, China. This study takes three Myanmar workers in Ruili City as cases and uses the in-depth interview method to systematically explore their living conditions, identity recognition, and adaptation strategies in China. The research results show that the Myanmar workers mainly engage in low-skilled jobs in the secondary labor market and face multiple challenges such as language barriers, insufficient legal rights protection, and limited social integration. Although they exhibit characteristics of cultural integration between China and Myanmar and have adapted to local life to a certain extent, their identity predicament and institutional restrictions still significantly affect their long-term development and cross-border mobility. This study aims to reveal the real survival picture of Myanmar workers in the border gap, provide empirical evidence for policy formulation, and promote further attention to the rights protection and social integration issues of cross-border labor groups.

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Short-video platforms such as TikTok and YouTube engage users through algorithmic recommendations and infinite scroll interfaces but often leave them feeling mentally fatigued. This study examines the cognitive and emotional mechanisms behind this post-use exhaustion, focusing on demographic differences, viewing duration, and content repetition. Drawing on instant gratification and flow theories, a cross-sectional survey of 152 participants assessed boredom and fatigue after short-video use. Results showed significant effects of gender (p = .024) and age (p = .0017), with younger and female users reporting higher fatigue. Session duration did not predict exhaustion (p = .23), whereas exposure to repetitive content and videos from the same author strongly predicted fatigue (F = 63.4, p < .001, R² = .46). These findings suggest that user fatigue stems less from screen time and more from algorithmic homogeneity that limits novelty. The study refines models of instant gratification by identifying cognitive saturation—not duration—as the key mechanism of digital exhaustion, offering implications for ethical platform design and digital well-being.

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The age of social media has fundamentally changed cosmetic advertising and its effects on modern consumerism. This research paper delves into the impact of cosmetic advertising through social media on purchasing decisions and societal expectations. It is important to recognize the psychological and cultural implications of excessive exposure to beauty on platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. From an analytical approach, this paper utilizes past research papers and conducts an in-depth review to offer a conclusion. The results show that the rise in cosmetic advertising has a significant impact on body dysmorphia, creates overconsumption, and reinforces societal pressure on both men and women. In addition, problems such as misrepresentation and false advertising further contribute to these complex social phenomena. Overall, there is a continued need for increased media literacy, transparency, and ethical regulation to promote a healthier, more sustainable relationship between consumers and modern cosmetic advertising.

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