You may have to Search all our reviewed books and magazines, click the sign up button below to create a free account.
This book provides fresh insights into the study of Chinese elites at the county level and below. By shifting the analytical focus onto the agency of elites at the local level and away from the institutional structures within which they operate, it fills a number of significant gaps in the field. In particular, this book addresses the lacunae through an empirically rich and diverse set of case studies. It proceeds from the premise that the study of local elites can be most fruitful through examining their relations with each other and with the groups that wield power in the community. Particularly pertinent to the analyses are three major relations, namely the relationship between the elites...
In the vast majority of literature on 'Chinese nationalism' the distinction between nation and state is rarely made, consequently nationalism usually appears as loyalty to the state rather than identification with the nation. Yet, since 1989, both the official configuration of the nation and the state's monopolized right to name the nation have come under rigorous challenge. Cultural Nationalism in Contemporary China relocates the discussion of nationalism to within a more contemporary framework which explores the disjunction between the people and the state and the relationship of each to the nation. With its challenging exploration of one of the most neglected aspects of identity in China, this book should appeal to Asianists, China watchers and all of those with an interest in cultural and sociological phenomena in East Asia.
This title was first published in 2000: This text aims to provide a clear understanding of the complex relationship that exists between nationalism, national identity, the state, the direction and trend of China's transition and the subsequent prospects for democratization. While describing the rise of Chinese nationalism and the accompanying discourse on Chinese national identity, it focuses on the national identity question and its impact on democratization. The text argues that Chinese nationalism is not monolithic and that popular Chinese nationalism attempts to exclude the role of the party-state in defining national identity. Most importantly, it has the potential to demand democratic reform and push for democratization in China. Nevertheless, the alliance between nationalism and democracy will expedient. Chinese nationalism, whether official or popular, comes into conflict with democracy when it confronts the national identity/boundary problem. They clash with each other where territoriality is involved. The Chinese nationalist solution to the problem is logically and inherently opposed to the contemporary trend towards democracy.
A general expectation has developed that ChinaÕs middle class will generate not only social but also political change. This expectation often overlooks the reality that there is no single Chinese middle class with a common identity or will to action. This timely volume examines the behaviour and identity of the different elements of ChinaÕs middle class Ð entrepreneurs, managers, and professionals Ð in order to understand their centrality to the wider processes of social and political change in China. The expert contributors seek to identify the social space occupied by the Chinese middle class rather than identifying social backgrounds and attitudes. In so doing they explore socio-polit...
This book reveals the complex relationship between elite perceptions and behaviour, and governance, in China. It moves away from existing scholarship by focusing on functionaries, grass-roots elites, leading intellectuals, and opinion-makers in China and by looking beyond the top leadership, makes a significant contribution to our understanding of shared governance and broadened political participation in China. The chapters in this collection explore the elites’ role as opinion-makers, technical experts, producers of knowledge, and executives or managers, and pose a number of questions, the answers to which are crucial to understanding future political and economic development in China. W...
China’s commercial film industry can be used as a map to understand how class is interwoven into the imaginations that inform and influence social change in Chinese society. Film consumption is important in this process, particularly for young adult urbanites that are China’s primary commercial cinema patrons. This book investigates the web between the representation of class themes in Chinese film narratives, local audience reception to these films, and the socialisation of China’s contemporary class society. Bringing together textual analyses of narratives from five commercially exhibited films: Let the Bullets Fly (Jiang: 2010), Lost on Journey (Yip: 2011), Go Lala Go! (Xu: 2011), H...
The main aim of these essays is to highlight the discursive strategies employed by the dominant political elite in a variety of contexts to maintain and reinforce their power position in intercultural encounters.
None
None