Popular Politics and the Quest for Justice in Contemporary China

Popular Politics and the Quest for Justice in Contemporary China
ISBN-10
1315391929
ISBN-13
9781315391922
Category
Political Science
Pages
178
Language
English
Published
2017-06-14
Publisher
Routledge
Authors
Susanne Brandtstädter, Hans Steinmüller

Description

The rise of popular politics is among one the most significant social and political developments the People’s Republic of China has witnessed in the post-Mao era. People from all walks of life have responded to rising inequalities and the privatization of collective goods with a new quest for justice. Although China has remained a censorial society under the authoritarian rule of the Chinese Communist Party, state-society relations are being remade by interventions of emergent publics through word and action. In this book, a group of anthropologists, specializing in Chinese society, examine various facets of popular politics, which are animated by the pursuit of justice, fairness and good government. The ethnographic chapters collectively analyse how ‘the political’ arises in particular judicial situations, provoking public judgements or other forms of critical engagement. Focusing on the interplay between private and public spaces, between morality and law and between speech and action, the contributors in this book explore how such engagements are changing Chinese society from the bottom-up. As the first systematic exploration of the relationship between popular politics, emergent publics and notions of justice in contemporary China, this book will be useful for students of Chinese Studies, Politics and Anthropology.

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