Ichina: The Rise Of The Individual In Modern Chinese Society (nias Studies In Asian Topics)

In spite of the intense preoccupation with individual and self in modern Western thought, the social sciences have tended to focus on groups and collectives and downplay the individual. This implicit view has also coloured the study of social life in China where both Confucian ethics and Communist policies have shaped collective structures with little room for individual agency and choice. What is actually happening, however, is a growing individualization of China - not only changing perceptions of the individual but also rising expectations for individual freedom, choice and individuality. The individual has also become a basic social category in China, and a development has begun that permeates all areas of social, economic and political life. How this process evolves in a state and society lacking two of the defining characteristics of European individualization - a culturally embedded democracy and a welfare system - is one of the questions that the volume explores. A strength of this volume is that its authors succeed in depicting the individualization process in conceptually acute and empirically sensitive terms, and as something with its own distinctively Chinese profile. That makes this book a 'must read' for all those wanting to understand present-day Chinese society, with all of its ambivalences, contingencies and contradictions. iChina: The Rise of the Individual in Modern Chinese Society 4 Contents 6 Contributors 8 Preface 12 Ulrich Beck and Elisabeth Beck-Gernsheim: Foreword: Varieties of Individualization 14 Notes 21 Yunxiang Yan: Introduction: Conflicting Images of the Individual and Contested Process of Individualization 22 The Individualization Thesis 24 The Politics of a Temporary Residence Permit 26 Understanding the Rising Individual in China 35 The rise of the individual 36 The individual in and out of the collective 41 The individual contested in discourse and practice 45 Conclusion 52 Notes 56 Bibliography 56 1 Mette Halskov Hansen and Cuiming Pang: Idealizing Individual Choice: Work, Love and Family in the Eyes of Young, Rural Chinese 60 Fieldwork and the Biographical Approach 62 Dilemmas of Individual Space, ‘Free Love’ and Family Commitments 64 The Burden of Individual Responsibility 70 Collective Engagement and Family Interests 76 Conclusion 80 Notes 83 Bibliography 84 2 Stig Thøgersen and Ni Anru: He Is He and I Am I: Individual and Collective among China’s Elderly 86 Old Age in Rural China 87 Co-Residence in Asia and in China 89 Images of China’s Rural Elderly 93 Old Age and Autonomy in Rural Shandong 96 Perceptions of Old Age and Filial Piety 97 Attitudes to Living Independently 99 Real and Imagined Communities for the Rural Elderly 104 Conclusion 108 Notes 110 Bibliography 110 3 Jørgen Delman and Yin Xiaoqing: Individualization and the Political Agency of Private Business People in China 115 Private Business and Politics 116 Individualization and Sub-Political ‘Peg’ Communities 118 Contesting Master Narratives and Setting the Political Agenda 120 Sub-Politicization and Political Agency 124 The Case of Sun Dawu 127 Business development 127 The legal case 130 Relations with government 132 Political ideas 134 Business philosophy and organization 137 Status and political identity 140 Political agency: a sub-political community at work? 141 Conclusion 144 Notes 146 Bibliography 148 4 Unn Målfrid H. Rolandsen: A Collective of Their Own: Young Volunteers at the Fringes of the Party Realm 153 The New Face of Volunteering: From Forced Duty to Individual Choice 156 Volunteering at the Fringes of the Party Realm 163 China Volunteers as Experienced by Individual Volunteers 168 Collectives in Conflict: The Concern for Volunteers’ Families 171 Volunteers’ Motivations and Volunteering as Capital 173 Volunteering as a Form of Reciprocity 176 Conclusion 177 Notes 179 Bibliography 181 5 Anne Wedell-Wedellsborg: Between Self and Community: The Individual in Contemporary Chinese Literature 185 The Literary Individual in Post-Mao China 187 The Individual versus History and Culture 189 Individual versus Self 194 The Individual as Wolf 198 The Individual versus Life 202 Conclusion 205 Notes 208 Bibliography 210 6 Rune Svarverud: Individual Self-Discipline and Collective Freedom in the Minds of Chinese Intellectuals 214 Chinese Individualism, Liberalism and the Freedom of the Individual 218 Liang on Kant, Rousseau and the Relationship between Individual and Collective 225 Liang on the Self-Discipline and Autonomy of the Individual and the Nation 228 Liang on Morality 229 The Reaction to Liang’s Interpretation of Freedom and Self-Discipline 231 The Autonomy of the Individual, the Minor and Greater Self 235 Conclusion 240 Notes 242 Bibliography 243 7 Klaus Mühlhahn: ‘Friendly Pressure’: Law and the Individual in Modern China 247 The Individual in Imperial Chinese Law 249 Individualization and Power in Republican Law 253 Socialism and Collective Discipline, 1949–1979 258 Conclusion 264 Notes 267 Bibliography 268 8. Li Minghuan: Collective Symbols and Individual Options: Life on a State Farm for Returned Overseas Chinese after Decollectivization 271 The State-Owned Institution Seen from a Perspective of Individualization 272 The Development of Songping Farm: From a Comprehensive Umbrella to Organized Irresponsibility 273 (i) The emergence of a social enclave: the inception period (1960–1965) 274 (ii) Contradiction runs parallel with development: the expansion period (1966–1980) 276 (iii) Collective disembedding: Songping after 1980 277 The Intensification of the Reform, and Individual Differentiation 281 Remaking a New Collectivity, and the Efforts of Re-embedment 283 Conclusion: Individualization in the Political Context of China 286 Notes 289 Bibliography 289 Index 292 In spite of the intense preoccupation with individual and self in modern Western thought, the social sciences have tended to focus on groups and collectives and downplay (even disregard) the individual. This implicit view has also colored the study of social life in China, where both Confucian ethics and Communist policies have shaped collective structures with little room for individual agency and choice. What is actually happening, however, is a growing individualization of China not only changing perceptions of the individual but also rising expectations for individual freedom, choice, and individuality. The individual has also become a basic social category in China, and a development has begun that permeates all areas of social, economic, and political life. How this process evolves in a state and society lacking two of the defining characteristics of European individualizationa culturally embedded democracy and a welfare system is one of the questions that the volume explores. A strength of this volume is that its authors succeed in depicting the individualization process in conceptually acute and empirically sensitive terms, and as something with its own distinctively Chinese profile. That makes this book a "must read" for all those wanting to understand present-day Chinese society, with all of its ambivalences, contingencies and contradictions. Moreover, the volume makes an essential contribution to the current debate in sociology about how the meaning of "modernity" should be conceptualized and redefined from a cosmopolitan perspective. Foreword: Varieties of individualization -- Ulrich Beck and Elisabeth Beck-Gernsheim -- Introduction: Conflicting images of the individual and contested process of individualization -- Yunxiang Yan Idealizing individual choice: work, love and family in the eyes of young, rural Chinese -- Mette Halskov Hansen and Cuiming Pang He is he and I am I: individual and collective among China's elderly -- Sig Thoegersen and Ni Anru Individualization and the political agency of private business people in China -- Joergen Delman and Yin Ziaoqing A collective of their own: young volunteers at the fringes of the party realm -- Unn Malfrid H. Rolandsen Between self and community: the individual in contemporary Chinese literature -- Anne Wedell-Wedellsborg Individual self-discipline and collective freedom in the minds of Chinese intellectuals -- Rune Svarverud 'Friendly pressure': law and the individual in modern China -- Klaus Muhlhahn Collective symbols and individual options: life on a state farm for returned overseas Chinese after decollectivization -- Li Minghuan. There is a growing individualization of China with changing perceptions of the individual and rising expectations for individual freedom, choice and individuality. How this process evolves in a country lacking two of the defining characteristics of European individualization is a question this volume explores.