Over the past two decades, the People's Republic of China (PRC) has transformed from a society of shortage into one of plenty. Shopping is now an activity ostensibly free from government control. But what kind of freedom is this, and will it be limited to those who can afford it?
References
1.
DavisDeborah S., ed. The Consumer Revolution in Urban China.Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2000. This engaging collection of articles explores the influence of consumption on Chinese society from the home to the business world.
2.
DavisDeborah S.“When a House Becomes His Home.” In Popular China: Unofficial Culture in a Globalizing Society, eds. LinkP.MadsenR.PickowiczP.. New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 2002. In this chapter, Davis demonstrates how the rise of a real estate market has enhanced traditional male authority.
3.
GilletteMaris Boyd. From Mecca to Beijing: Modernization and Consumption Among Urban Chinese Muslims.Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2000. This is a valuable ethnographic study of how China's Muslim Hui minority use consumption to challenge the notion that they are not “modern.”.
4.
HooperBeverly. “Consumer Voices: Asserting Rights in Post-Mao China.”China Information16 (2000): 92–128. This is a comprehensive discussion of the rise of consumer rights in China and its implication for political freedom.
5.
JingJun, ed. Feeding China's Little Emperors: Food, Children and Social Change.Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2000. This collection addresses topics ranging from snacking to the growing generation gap in diet.
6.
LathamKevin. “Rethinking Chinese Consumption.’ In Postsocialism: Ideas, Ideologies and Practices in Eurasia, ed. HannC.M.. New York: Routledge, 2002. Lathan argues that it is the rhetoric of ‘transition” towards a better future, and not consumption per se, that bolsters the legitimacy of China's Communist Party.
