After decades of egalitarian, restricted consumption, residents of China's cities are surrounded by a level of material comfort and commercial hype unimaginable just ten years ago. In this first in-depth treatment of the consumer revolution in China, fourteen leading scholars of Chinese culture and society explore the interpersonal consequences of rapid commercialization.

In the early 1980s, Beijing's communist leadership advocated decollectivization, foreign trade, and private entrepreneurship to jump-start a stagnant economy, while explicitly rejecting any notion that economic reforms...

The post-Mao urban reforms of the past decade have physically and psychologically transformed China's cities. Urban Spaces in Contemporary China explores how the character of city life changed after political-economic restructuring intensified in 1984, and how this change affected the creation of new physical, economic and cultural space in urban China. Drawing on a wide range of backgrounds, including economics, art history, law, and sociology, the authors bring personal insights to dimensions of urban Chinese life that are often misunderstood: China's large "floating populations,"...

The post-Mao urban reforms of the past decade have physically and psychologically transformed China's cities. Urban Spaces in Contemporary China explores how the character of city life changed after political and economic restructuring intensified in 1984, and how this change affected the creation of new physical, economic, and cultural spaces in urban China. The book focuses on the impact of increased commercialization and reduced state power on associations, economics, government, and creativity in urban areas. The authors draw from a wide range of backgrounds, including anthropology,...