Chinese Society: Change, Conflict and Resistance (Asia's Transformations) [Paperback]

Elizabeth J. Perry (Editor), Mark Selden (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0415560748 | ISBN-13: 978-0415560740 | Publication Date: April 16, 2010 | Edition: 3

This bestselling introduction to Chinese society uses the themes of resistance and protest to explore the complexity of life in contemporary China. An interdisciplinary and international team of China scholars draw on perspectives from sociology, anthropology, psychology, history and political science and covers a broad range of issues.

Topics covered include:

• labour and environmental disputes
• rural and ethnic conflict
• migration
• legal challenges
• intellectual and religious dissidence
• opposition to family planning.

The newly revised, third edition adds two new chapters on gender and the family, and the reform of the Hukou system thus providing a comprehensive text for both undergraduates and specialists in the field, encouraging the reader to challenge conventional images of contemporary Chinese society.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Reviews of the second editon:

'This first rate collection will be indispensable reading for Scholars of Chinese society. Each of the book's uniformly excellent well-written and substantive chapters open by providing enough historical background onits specific topic to make it comprehensible enough to advanced undergraduates as well as the general informed reader.' - The China Journal

'I would recommend to all serious students who wish to begin studying this country.' - China Perspectives

'Should be read by all serious scholars of contemporary China.' - Asian Affairs

About the Author

Elizabeth J. Perry is Henry Rosovsky professor of Government at Harvard University. Her previous books include Rebels and Revolutionaries in North China, Shanghai on Strike: The Politics of Chinese Labour, Proletarian Power: Shanghai in the Cultural Revolution, and Challenging the Mandate of Heaven: Social Protest and State Power in China.

Mark Selden is Senior Research Associate, Cornell University and a Coordinator of The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus. His books include China in Revolution: The Yenan Wat Revisited, Chinese Village, Socialist State (with Edward Friedman and Paul Pickowicz), The Political Economy of Chinese Development and The Resurgence of East Asia: 500, 150 and 50 Year Perspectives (with Giovanni Arrighi
and Takeshi Hamashita).

Product Details

• Paperback: 344 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 3 edition (April 16, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415560748
• ISBN-13: 978-0415560740
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #169,352 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Mark Selden is a Coordinator of The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus, a Senior Research Associate in the East Asia Program at Cornell University, and Professor Emeritus of History and Sociology at Binghamton University. You can access The Asia-Pacific Journal here; http://japanfocus.org

A specialist on the modern and contemporary geopolitics, political economy and history of China, Japan and the Asia Pacific, his work has addressed themes of war and revolution, inequality, development, regional and world social change, and historical memory. A founding member of the Committee of Concerned Asian Scholars in the 1960s, for more than thirty years he edited The Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars (later Critical Asian Studies). He is the editor of Book Series at Rowman and Littlefield, Routledge, and M.E. Sharpe including series on The Asia-Pacific, War and Peace, and World Social Change.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Very academic, July 3, 2011

By 

Janet - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Chinese Society: Change, Conflict and Resistance (Asia's Transformations) (Paperback)

This is written by hardcore academics, for hardcore academics (and for their students). Lots of esoteric sociological/philosophical terms, well-divided into essays by specific subjects. Note two of the quotes that Amazon provides:

'I would recommend to all serious students who wish to begin studying this country.' - China Perspectives

'Should be read by all serious scholars of contemporary China.' - Asian Affairs

The key word is SERIOUS. It is excellent for its purposes, but this is not for a casual reader who wants to learn about Chinese culture and politics.

If you need it for class, then you need it for class (though maybe not really, depending on how your prof runs things), and it's very informative and well-written. You will learn a lot. Otherwise, skip this book.