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  • Book
  • Open Access
  • © 2023

Self as Method

Thinking Through China and the World

Palgrave Macmillan

Authors:

  • Collects reflections about how to think about China

  • Takes us on a whirlwind tour of the questions that China is thinking about today

  • Presents urban–rural divide, the problems of corruption in development, and the role of the CCP

  • This book is open access, which means that you have free and unlimited access.

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Softcover Book USD 49.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 59.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

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Table of contents (34 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-vii
  2. Introduction

    • David Ownby
    Pages 1-20Open Access
  3. Beijing Interview, March 2018

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 21-21
    2. Setting the Stage

      • Xiang Biao, Wu Qi
      Pages 23-26Open Access
    3. A Childhood Picture

      • Xiang Biao, Wu Qi
      Pages 27-37Open Access
    4. The 1980s Culture Craze

      • Xiang Biao, Wu Qi
      Pages 39-46Open Access
    5. Beida After 1989

      • Xiang Biao, Wu Qi
      Pages 47-58Open Access
    6. Researching Zhejiang Village

      • Xiang Biao, Wu Qi
      Pages 59-68Open Access
    7. Youth Melancholy

      • Xiang Biao, Wu Qi
      Pages 69-72Open Access
    8. The Center and the Margins

      • Xiang Biao, Wu Qi
      Pages 73-83Open Access
    9. Personal Crisis

      • Xiang Biao, Wu Qi
      Pages 85-90Open Access
    10. Globalization and Anti-Globalization

      • Xiang Biao, Wu Qi
      Pages 91-98Open Access
    11. Using the 1980s to Critique the 1980s

      • Xiang Biao, Wu Qi
      Pages 99-105Open Access
    12. What is Criticism?

      • Xiang Biao, Wu Qi
      Pages 107-114Open Access
    13. Empathetic Scholarship

      • Xiang Biao, Wu Qi
      Pages 115-121Open Access
  4. Oxford Interview, August 2018

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 123-123
    2. Setting the Stage

      • Xiang Biao, Wu Qi
      Pages 125-127Open Access
    3. Impressions of Oxford

      • Xiang Biao, Wu Qi
      Pages 129-136Open Access
    4. A Sense of Distance and Directness

      • Xiang Biao, Wu Qi
      Pages 137-142Open Access
    5. Anthropologists and Their World

      • Xiang Biao, Wu Qi
      Pages 143-147Open Access

About this book

Despite China’s rise to the status of global power, many Chinese youths are anxious about their personal future, in large measure because the rapid changes have left them feeling adrift.  This book, available in open access, provides a manifesto of intellectual activism that counsels China’s young people to think by themselves and for themselves. Consisting of three conversations between Xiang Biao, a social anthropologist, and Wu Qi, a rising journalist, the book probes how China has reached its current stage and how young people can make changes. The conversations touch on issues of mobility, education, family, relations between the self and the authority, centers and margins, China, and the world. The Chinese version was named the “most impactful book of 2021” by Douban, China’s premier website for rating books, films, and music.  The English version is translated by David Ownby, who also penned an introduction. 


Keywords

  • China
  • Development
  • Political
  • Chinese Intellectual Life
  • Intellectual
  • Open Access

Authors and Affiliations

  • Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Halle, Germany

    Biao Xiang

  • One-way Street Journal, Beijing, China

    Qi Wu

About the authors

Xiang Biao is a social anthropologist who was born and educated in China and now the director of the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology. 

Wu Qi is a journalist and an editor of ‘One Way Street,’ a Chinese literary magazine.

David Ownby is a full professor, Department of History, Centre d’études de l’Asie de l’Est, Université de Montréal.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Self as Method

  • Book Subtitle: Thinking Through China and the World

  • Authors: Biao Xiang, Qi Wu

  • Translated by: David Ownby

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-4953-1

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Singapore

  • eBook Packages: Social Sciences, Social Sciences (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2023

  • License: CC BY-NC-ND

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-981-19-4952-4Published: 01 October 2022

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-981-19-4955-5Published: 01 October 2022

  • eBook ISBN: 978-981-19-4953-1Published: 30 September 2022

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: VII, 268

  • Number of Illustrations: 1 b/w illustrations

  • Topics: Political Science, History of China, Globalization

Buy it now

Buying options

Softcover Book USD 49.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 59.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access