Description
Book SynopsisThis volume explores the search for meaning among people in China today. The subjects of these essays span the social spectrum from hip young entrepreneurs to sweatshop workers and homeless beggars, with the issues ranging from domestic violence to homosexuality to political corruption.
Trade ReviewEvery chapter is well-written and accessible to a wide range of readers, providing a complex and multifaceted view of how social and economic changes have affected the lives of ordinary Chinese. Highly recommended for all levels. * CHOICE *
This is a well-written, informative, and inspirational volume, highly recommended to students of contemporary Chinese history, politics, and cultural studies. * Journal of Asian Studies *
Suitable for the graduate student but is also written in a style that would interest anyone with a serious interest in China. * Asian Affairs *
Ought to be read by anyone interested in the evolution of Chinese society, and it is indispensable for students who want to understand the social changes wrought by the economic reforms. * The China Journal *
It is creative, valuable scholarship that debunks stereotype and opens the way for further inquiry, which is precisely what we have come to expect from the editors. * China Quarterly *
This is one of those rare books that will be of value both to beginning undergraduates and specialists on China. It provides an excellent corrective for those whose image of China remains fixated on the 'Beijing Spring' of 1989 or whose knowledge of China is limited to elite politics or the highly visible modernization of the largest coastal cities. In demonstrating how the impact of globalization has contributed to momentous cultural changes, the authors have given us a living, breathing China of real people, fashioning strategies to survive and prosper in a society that has become enormously diverse. -- Stanley Rosen, University of Southern California
Table of ContentsChapter 1: "I Believe You Can Fly": Basketball Culture in Postsocialist China Chapter 2: Corruption in Popular Culture Chapter 3: Village Voices, Urban Activists: Women, Violence, and Gender Inequality in Rural China Chapter 4: Shunkouliu: Popular Satirical Sayings and Popular Thought Chapter 5: The Rich, the Laid-off, and the Criminal in Tabloid Tales: Read All About Them! Chapter 6: The New Chinese Woman and Lifestyle Magazines in the Late 1990s Chapter 7: The Culture of Survival: Lives of Migrant Workers through the Prism of Private Letters Chapter 8: The Chinese Enterprising Self: Young, Educated Urbanites and the Search for Work Chapter 9: Beggars in the Socialist Market Economy Chapter 10: When a House Becomes His Home Chapter 11: In Love and Gay Chapter 12: Urban Experiences and Social Belonging among Chinese Rural Migrants
