China Herald: Debate on the contemporary identity of the Chinese

Tricia Wang

Sociologist Tricia Wang just finished her 106th day in seclusion, trying to write down her thoughts on seven years of China field work. Today she discussed the "sense of self" among Chinese citizens, and opens an important debate on her weblog.

Tricia Wang:

Day 106 #synthesisnow - #deepchina edited by Arthur Kleinman. This is a really great book by some of the most amazing researchers on the self in contemporary China, like Yun Xiangyuan. So many freaking goodies in here but I disagree with their overall argument. They’re saying that modern changes like capitalism & individualism are creating a divided sense of the self among Chinese citizens. This is true for older generations, but absolutely not true at all for the Internet Generation. They are not feeling divided because they are doing crazy shit online in secret spaces under anonymous identities. They are expressing an#elasticself - but you wouldn’t know unless you dig even deeper to the secret spaces where youth are expressing themselves.

Tricia Wang is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

+China Weekly Hangout
Is education a goldmine or a black hole? The China Weekly Hangout discussed in February 2013 +Andrew Hupert, formerly working for the NYU Shanghai campus, and +Paul Fox, lecturer at the HKU School of Professional and Continuing Education. They joined +Fons Tuinstra, president of the +China Speakers Bureau
.