Overview
China has experienced a tremendous turn-around over the past three decades from the ethos of sacrificing life to the emergent appeal for valuing life. This book takes an interdisciplinary look at China during these decades of transformation through the defining theme of governance of life. With an emphasis on how to achieve an adequate life, the contributors integrate a whole range of life-related domains including: the death of Sun Zhigang, the peril caused by rising tobacco consumption, the emerging suicide intervention, the turning points in the fight against AIDS, the intensely evolving birth policy, the emerging biological citizenship, and so on. In doing so, they explore how biological life has been governed differently to enhance the wellbeing of the population instead of promoting ideological goals. This change, dubbed ""the deepening in governmentality,"" is one of the most important driving forces for China’s rise, and will have huge bearings on how the Chinese will achieve an adequate life in the 21st century. This book presents works by a number of internationally known scholars and will be of interest to students and scholars of anthropology, sociology, political science, history, Chinese philosophy, law, and public health.
Full Product Details
Author: Everett Zhang (Princeton University, USA) ,
Arthur Kleinman (Harvard University, USA) ,
Weiming Tu (Harvard University, USA)
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd
Imprint: Routledge
Weight: 0.710kg
ISBN: 9780415597180
ISBN 10: 0415597188
Pages: 294
Publication Date: 17 December 2010
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Tertiary & Higher Education
,
Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: In Print
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Reviews
What appeals to me most in this volume is the way in which the chapters together, but from very different perspectives, manage to highlight fundamental human issues regarding the governing of life and death in China, and Chinese people's search (and sometimes demand) for adequate lives. The chapters provide valuable insights into how governmental practices interchange with cultural norms; what people in China have come to regard as crucial for living adequate lives; and what they therefore expect from their government and from themselves as subjects. The book is easily accessible, with chapters that often include good definitions of key concepts and overviews of topics concerning governmentality in China. It should therefore make a welcome contribution not just to specialists but also to students at earlier stages of their studies. - Mette Halskov Hansen, University of Oslo, Norway; Asian Anthropology, Vol. 10 (2011)
Author Information
Everett Zhang, Arthur Kleinman, Weiming Tu
