Self-Development Ethics and Politics in China Today: A Keyword Approach
The editor Gil Hizi happy to announce the publication of this edited volume, Self-Development Ethics and Politics in China Today: A Keyword Approach (Amsterdam UP) (see description below), with contributions by Marius Meinhof, Marco Fumian, Naja Morell Hjortshøj, Anna Iskra, Xinyan Peng, Canglong Wang, Liisa Kohonen, Dan Wu, Yang Zhan, Isabel Heger-Laube, Linda Qian, Barclay Bram Shoemaker, Mieke Matthyssen, and Jiwei Ci, and myself.
On October 25 we will host an online event (10 am NY, 4 pm Berlin, 10 pm Beijing), with brief introductions by the authors and commentaries by Jiwei Ci (Oxford University) and Vanessa Fong (Amherst College). To register, please contact Gil Hizi – Hizi[at]em.uni-frankfurt.de
Meanwhile you can also listen to an interview on the book on the New Books Network (hosted by Suvi Rautio)—https://newbooksnetwork.com/self-development-ethics-and-politics-in-china-today, or/and order the book with a 20% discount with the code AUP20, valid until Oct. 31 (see AUP website).
Book description (publisher’s website):
This volume takes readers on a journey into a central aspect of life in China, so-called “self-development.” Whether prompted by the cultural values of educational success, capitalist competition for wealth, or the Chinese Communist Party’s prescriptions for “good” citizenship, few people in China are immune to the impetus to “improve” themselves and thus bring about a better future. Contributors to this volume, interdisciplinary sinologists, draw on materials from practices in education, labor, and self-help as they spotlight “keywords” by which individuals make sense of their self-development journeys – including new forms of resistance to social norms. Rather than simply classify self-development by different activities or groups, the chapters map together ethical features that cut across Chinese society. Contributors explore the nuanced and ambivalent attitudes towards self-development of individuals navigating various requirements and pursuing more complete forms of existence. In so doing, they offer a snapshot of China that intersects with timely global concerns.