Popular China ― Unofficial Culture in a Globalizing Society

The overwhelming role of the state in the daily affairs of the Chinese people has declined somewhat in recent years, opening up greater spaces for "unofficial" culture. Link (East Asian studies, Princeton U.), Madsen (sociology, U. of California), and Pickowicz (history, U. of California) present 12 articles that explore a variety of facets of these spaces, with the implicit concern of the tension between the state and society running throughout the volume. Articles look at basketball culture, the treatment of corruption in the press, women's lifestyle magazines of the 1990s, the private letters of migrant workers as a prism into their daily lives, and gay life in Hong Kong. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Perry Link is professor of East Asian studies at Princeton University. Richard P. Madsen is professor of sociology at the University of California, San Diego. Paul G. Pickowicz is professor of history at the University of California, San Diego.