Description
Book SynopsisArgues that the creation of such "desiring subjects" is at the core of China's contingent, piece-by-piece reconfiguration of its relationship to a post-socialist, neo-liberal-dominated world.
Trade Review“Brilliant and wide-ranging,
Desiring China deftly interweaves analysis of the production of post-socialist citizen-subjects in China with a transformative critique of the literature on ‘neoliberalism.’ This tour de force is theoretically expansive, ethnographically rich, and a compelling read. It deserves a broad audience in cultural studies, anthropology, queer and feminist theory, Asian studies, and contemporary theory.”—Dorinne Kondo, University of Southern California
“This is a brilliant ethnography of how emotions unleashed by neoliberalism are configuring post-Tiananmen culture. With wit and sparkle, Lisa Rofel introduces us to young Chinese who live for the moment, experimenting with sex, love, and cosmopolitanism, without (ever) forgetting their love of culture and of nation.
Desiring China is an exciting work of cultural interpretation, and it is an innovative guide for studying the cultural practices and political possibilities in globalizing China.”—Aihwa Ong, author of
Neoliberalism as Exception and coeditor of
Privatizing China“
Desiring China is an exciting and important new work that pushes the boundaries of ethnography and offers new critical frameworks for discussions of neoliberalism and culture.” -- Patti Duncan * NWSA Journal *
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Desiring China will surely take its place as an indispensable work that scholars in queer studies, cultural studies, and Chinese studies have been ‘desiring’ for a long time.” -- Alvin Ka Hin Wong * GLQ *
“Lisa Rofel’s volume is distinguished by its explicit engagement with U. S. politics through an extensive examination of China-in-transformation. Rofel’s analysis centers on public cultural spheres and foregrounds the thesis that globalization is no longer external to China but internal to its economic and cultural productions of commodities, public spheres, subjectivities, and desire.” -- Yan Hairong * Journal of Asian Studies *
“This book is theoretically expansive and ethnographically rich, weaving discussions of the production of post-socialist subjectivities with critiques of the literature on ‘neoliberalism.’ It should be welcomed by a wide range of scholars who have an interest in cultural studies, China and Asian studies, queer and feminist theory, and contemporary theory.” -- Tiantian Zheng * The China Quarterly *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
1. Yearnings: Televisual Love and Melodramatic Politics 31
2. Museum as Women’s Space: Displays of Gender 65
3. Qualities of Desire: Imagining Gay Identities 85
4. From Sacrifice to Desire: Cosmopolitanism with Chinese Characteristics 111
5. Legislating Desire: Homosexuality, Intellectual Property Rights, and Consumer Fraud 135
6. Desiring China: China’s Entry into the WTO 157
Coda 197
Notes 205
Works Cited 229
Index 247
