Self-Development Ethics and Politics in China Today : A Keyword Approach / edited by Gil Hizi.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Hizi, Gil, editor.

Series:

China: from revolution to reform ; Volume 6.

China ; Volume 6

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Self-actualization (Psychology).

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (314 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Amsterdam, Netherlands : Amsterdam University Press B.V., [2024]

Summary:

This volume takes readers on a journey into a central aspect of life in China, so-called ?self-development.? Whether prompted by the cultural values of educational success, capitalist competition for wealth, or the Chinese Communist Party?s prescriptions for ?good? citizenship, few people in China are immune to the impetus to ?improve? themselves and thus bring about a better future. Contributors to this volume, interdisciplinary sinologists, draw on materials from practices in education, labor, and self-help as they spotlight ?keywords? by which individuals make sense of their self-development journeys ? including new forms of resistance to social norms. Rather than simply classify self-development by different activities or groups, the chapters map together ethical features that cut across Chinese society. Contributors explore the nuanced and ambivalent attitudes towards self-development of individuals navigating various requirements and pursuing more complete forms of existence. In so doing, they offer a snapshot of China that intersects with timely global concerns.

Contents:

Cover

Table of Contents

Contributors

Editor Acknowledgements

Introduction

Gil Hizi

Part I.: Developmentalist Thinking

1 Luohou (Lagging Behind) and the Impetus of Self-improvement

Marius Meinhof

2 Fendou (Struggle), Self-help and Chinese Modernity

Marco Fumian

3 Optimizing Individual Desires: Mengxiang (Dreams) and Entrepreneurship in Chinese Universities

Naja Morell Hjortshøj

Part II: Transformative Frameworks

4 Qingxu Shifang (Emotional Release) in Psychotherapeutic Learning

Anna Iskra

5 "You've Got to Have Core Muscles": Duanlian (Exercise) and the Disciplining of the Body and Self among White-collar Women

Xinyan Peng

6 Jiaohua (Education for Transformation) and Self-refashioning in Chinese Individuals' Confucian Learning

Canglong Wang

Part III: Empowering Ingredients

7 To Have Nengli (Ability) When Lacking Xueli (Educational Qualifications): Striving for Success through Craftiness in Rural China

Liisa Kohonen

8 The Desire to Help: Aixin (Loving Heart) and Self-development in China

Dan Wu and Yang Zhan

9 Learning to Xinshang (Appreciate): Young Adults' Pursuit of Non-standardized Sensibilities

10 Between Fatalism and Voluntarism: The Concept of Yuanfen (Fated Chance) and Its Role for Young Adults' Psychosocial Adjustment in Contemporary China

Isabel Heger-Laube

Part IV: Disillusionment

11 The Inescapability of Neijuan (Involution)

Linda Qian and Barclay Bram

12 Tangping (Lying Flat) among Young Adults: Shameful, Courageous or Just Fleeting Resistance?

Mieke Matthyssen

Epilogue: The Politics of Arrested Self-development

Jiwei Ci

Index.

Notes:

Includes index.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

1-003-70349-6

1-04-079680-X

90-485-5749-6

9781003703495

OCLC:

1451784442

Publisher Number:

CIPO000299164