The Exemplary Society

Human Improvement, Social Control, and the Dangers of Modernity in China

AvBørge Bakken

Inbunden, Engelska, 2000

Del i serien Studies on Contemporary China

6 138 kr

Beställningsvara. Skickas inom 5-8 vardagar. Fri frakt över 249 kr.

Beskrivning

In modern China, technocratic utopias go side by side with moral panics. The modernization process is seen as creating the `disorders' of criminality, sex, and modern youth culture. The official answer to disorder is an exemplary societyan educative and disciplinary society where `human quality' and model behaviour is advocated. Modern Chinese society, however, resists being reduced to the exemplary discipline of its social engineers, and strategies of `lying' and resisting control are routine. This pathbreaking study analyses traditional and modern Chinese beliefs about and reactions to education, discipline, human improvement, and social control. Although these reactions to modernity have a Chinese colouring, they are not exclusive to the Chinese culture. By describing the terra incognita of China, The Exemplary Society also describes something about ourselves.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum:2000-03-09
Mått:162 x 242 x 34 mm
Vikt:908 g
Format:Inbunden
Språk:Engelska
Serie:Studies on Contemporary China
Antal sidor:532
Förlag:OUP OXFORD
ISBN:9780198295235

Utforska kategorier

Mer om författaren

Børge Bakken is Senior Researcher at the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies (NIAS) in Copenhagen. He has previously been Research Fellow in the Department of Sociology at the University of Oslo and Research Fellow in the Norwegian Research Council.

Recensioner i media

This valuable study draws on a rich variety of Western and Chinese language sources listed in a comprehensive bibliography. There is also an invaluable glossary of Chinese terms (including characters) for those wishing to carry out further reading in this field. Although the volume is grounded in sociological studies, it also makes an important contribution to the wider field of Chinese studies. It would be an appropriate and thought-provoking book for many postgraduate courses and should be of interest to all those with a serious interest in China.

Innehållsförteckning

PART I: MEMORIES AND DREAMS OF SOCIAL ORDER ; PART II: EDUCATION, SOCIETY, AND MORALITY ; PART III: NORMS, DISCIPLINES, AND THE EXEMPLARY ORDER ; PART IV: MODERNITY, DEVIANCE, AND DANGER ; PART V: THEATRE AND SIMULATION