Cultural mavericks : the business and politics of independent bookselling in China / Zheng Liu

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Liu, Zheng (Sociology scholar), Author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

China.

Booksellers and bookselling--China.

Booksellers and bookselling.

Independent bookstores--China.

Independent bookstores.

Physical Description:

1 online resource : illustrations

Place of Publication:

New York : Columbia University Press, [2026]

Summary:

"Independent booksellers emerged and developed rapidly across China since the mid-2000s. Unlike independent booksellers in the West - which generally means a store that isn't part of a chain like Waterstones or Barnes and Noble - independent bookstores in the Chinese context are rarely privately owned and instead share the goal of facilitating the free expression of ideas. Independent booksellers are extraordinary because they rose in a time of economic challenge for the bookselling business due to online retail, but also because they created a market - capitalism with Chinese characteristics - alongside and antithetical to China's state control of the book industry. In Cultural Mavericks, Zheng Liu takes readers into the fascinating world of independent bookselling in China. In doing so, she investigates how independence exists in an authoritarian society. She demonstrates how independent booksellers can help to nurture alternative ideas and critical debate through strategic and innovative cultural practices, a process made possible by autonomy from the state and resources and opportunities made possible by market forces. The book is based on interviews with owners, managers, and staff at 55 independent bookstores in six Chinese cities followed by participant observation. The book's chapters include an overview of cultural production in China, the unique nature of China's publishing industry, the moral bookseller, the political bookseller, and how the bookstores remain in business. Cultural Mavericks concludes that independent bookstores are the exemplar of how to be independent in an authoritarian, capitalist context"-- Provided by publisher

Contents:

Book publishing and retailing in China

Searching for an independent identity

Culturally adapted strategies : the concept

Implementing culturally adapted strategies

The economics of independent bookselling

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Online resource; title from PDF title page (De Gruyter Brill, viewed June 1, 2026)

Other Format:

Print version: Liu, Zheng (Sociology scholar) Cultural mavericks

ISBN:

9780231565011

0231565011

9780231553452

0231553455

OCLC:

1569792816

Publisher Number:

CIPO000316930

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license