Description
Book SynopsisThis book presents a new perspective on attempts by the contemporary Chinese government to transform the diverse conditions found in countless rural villages into what the state's social welfare program deems 'socialist new villages'. Lili Lai argues that an ethnographic focus on the specifics of village life can help destabilize China's persistent rural-urban divide and help contribute to more effective welfare intervention to improve health and hygienic conditions of village life.
Trade Review"This is an engaging anthropological exploration of the rural-urban divide and its focus on hygiene is important as it is a much neglected topic. The book will be of interest to not just China scholars but development studies, cultural studies and related fields too." - Susan Engel,
newbooks.asia, read the full review here.
Table of ContentsPREFACE CHAPTER ONE: THE LOCAL INTIMACIES OF CHINA'S RURAL-URBAN DIVIDE AN OVERVIEW OF SHANG VILLAGE CHAPTER TWO: DIRT, HYGIENE, HABITUS CHAPTER THREE: IMMANENT SOCIALITY: OPEN-ENDED BELONGING CHAPTER FOUR: CULTURE PLAZA - WHY CULTURE? WHOSE PLAZA? CHAPTER FIVE: THE UNCANNY NEW VILLAGE REFERENCES
