Consumerism, confucianism, communism: Making sense of China today

New Left Review

Volumn , Issue 222, 1997, Pages 43-58

  Zhao, Bin ^a  

^a NONE

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EID: 0031529685     PISSN: 00286060     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Article

References (49)

1. This can be seen in Richard Smith's 'The Chinese Road to Capitalism', NLR 199, May-June 1993, pp. 55-99, and also in Lin Chun's 'China Today: "Money Dissolves the Commune"', NLR 201, September-October 1993, pp. 34-45. It can already be noted in earlier debates such as Jon Halliday, 'Capitalism and Socialism in East Asia', NLR 124, November-December 1980, pp. 3-24.
2. This can be seen in Richard Smith's 'The Chinese Road to Capitalism', NLR 199, May-June 1993, pp. 55-99, and also in Lin Chun's 'China Today: "Money Dissolves the Commune"', NLR 201, September-October 1993, pp. 34-45. It can already be noted in earlier debates such as Jon Halliday, 'Capitalism and Socialism in East Asia', NLR 124, November-December 1980, pp. 3-24.
3. It can already be noted in earlier debates such as Jon Halliday, 'Capitalism and Socialism in East Asia', NLR 124, November-December 1980, pp. 3-24.
4. Dependency theory as a critique of modernization theory can be seen as a powerful expression of this frustration.
5. For an account of this period of history, see Jonathan D. Spence, The Search for Modern China, London 1990, chapter entitled 'Fragmentation and Reform'.
6. China Daily, 19 October 1994.
7. See Mike Featherstone Consumer Culture and Postmodernism, London 1991.
8. Paul Bowles and Xiao-yuan Dong, 'Current Successes and Future Challenges in China's Economic Reforms', NLR 208, pp. 49-76.
9. Deyan Sudjic, 'Megalopolis Now', The Guardian Weekend, 29 June 1995, pp. 27-35.
10. 'Foreign Capital Boosts Beijing's Commerce', Beijing Review, 12-18 April 1993, pp. 13-16.
11. The formerly obscure capital of Henan province, Zhengzhou, is now renowned for having Yiaxiyia (Asia), a huge department store with modern facilities, including a child-care department for parents to leave their children while shopping.
12. For an account of conspicuous consumption in classical China, see Peter Burk 'Res et Verba: Conspicuous Consumption in the Early Modern World', in John Brewer and Roy Porter, eds, Consumption and the World of Goods, London 1994.
13. Tony Walker and Richard Tomlinson, 'In Search of Fresh Pastures', Financial Times, 8 December 1995.
14. The four modernisations of agriculture, industry, national defence, and science and technology were made the official goal of national development by the post-Mao government in the late 1970s.
15. Walker and Tomlinson, 'In Search of Fresh Pastures'.
16. 'Money: How it is Spent Today', Beijing Review, 8-14 March 1993, p. 44.
17. Notably bang dakuan (living off rich men) is receiving critical attention from the Chinese press.
18. 'Consumption in China Gone Astray - Excessive Spending on the Young Generation', The People's Daily, overseas edition, 30 May 1988.
19. He Qinglian, 'Wealth and Poverty: an Analysis of Current Social Stratification', Dongfang, 11 May 1993.
20. China Youth Daily, 11 March 1993.
21. He Qinglian, 'Wealth and Poverty'.
22. David Goodman 'New Economic Elites', in Robert Benewick and Paul Wingrove, eds, China in the 1990s, Basingstoke 1995.
23. 'Foreign Capital Boosts Beijing's Commerce'.
24. 'China's Rich People Need to Change Their Image', Wenzhai Zhoubao, 26 December 1994.
25. 'Shanghai: the First Survey in China on the White Collar Social Strata', China Youth Daily, 24 January 1995, p. 8.
26. This can be looked at in relation to Pierre Bourdieu's work on social and cultural distinctions in France in the 1970s. See Distinction: a Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste, London 1984.
27. This information was obtained in Italy from a Diadora representative who supervised production in Henan Province.
28. Deyan Sudjic, 'Megalopolis Now'.
29. Exchange rate $1 =8 Yuan RMB.
30. Goodman, 'New Economic Elites', pp. 142-3.
31. 'Enjoy Night Life Here', Beijing Review, 2-8 August 1993, p. 31.
32. 'The Fad of "the Highest Grade" Mustn't be Boosted', Economic Daily, 8 January 1995.
33. Jean Baudrillard, Selected Writings, ed. Mark Poster, Cambridge 1988.
34. David Goodman 'The New Economic Elites', p. 142.
35. Ibid.
36. 'A Question of Money: Cellular Telephone Penetration', Far Eastern Economic Review, 7 April 1994, p. 47.
37. Kejuzhi, the imperial examination system.
38. 'Should Educational Institutions be Established for Profit?', China Youth Daily, 15 January 1995.
39. China Youth Daily, 5 January 1995, p. 4.
40. Social polarization is one of the factors identified in 'Several Factors that May Affect Our Nation's Stability', an internally circulated article written in the name of Deng Liqun.
41. It may not necessarily call itself 'the New Left', as that term has been irreparably tarnished by 'ultra-leftism' of the Cultural Revolution.
42. Vaclav Smil, China's Environmental Crisis: An Inquiry into the Limits of National Development, Armonk 1993, p. 192.
43. 'No Loafing About in the Grain Store', The Guardian, 20 September 1995.
44. 'Chinese Workers Make Christmas Toys for UK at 10p an Hour', Independent on Sunday, 24 December 1995. The reporter commented that 'the toys made in these factories are too expensive for Chinese children, who make do with more basic products'.
45. Michael Redclift, Sustainable Development: Exploring the Contradictions, London 1987.
46. 'Green Guerrillas in Mist', The Guardian, 11 March 1995, p. 29.
47. Immanuel Wallerstein, Unthinking Social Science: The Limits of Nineteenth-Century Paradigms, Cambridge 1991.
48. The competitive relation between the two most populous Asian countries, China and India, is made clear by the deputy-chairman of the Bank of East Asia Ltd, in a speech he gave in Hong Kong, arguing for China against India. The speech is published under the blatant title 'Why China, Not India, is the Better Bet for Investment in Asia', The International Herald Tribune, 1 June 1995.
49. 'Some Foreign Businessmen are being Cautious about Investing in China', Cankao Xiaoxi, 26 January 1995.