China in and beyond the Headlines

Edited by Timothy B. Weston, Lionel M. Jensen

Paperback - £48.00

Publication date:

28 June 2012

Length of book:

384 pages

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

ISBN-13: 9781442209046

In the third volume of this popular series, leading experts provide fascinating and unexpected insights into critical issues of culture, economy, politics, and society in today's China. This world, outside the reach of state control and either misunderstood or unreported in Western media, gains clarity and dimension from the fresh insights of a prominent group of activists, investigative journalists, lawyers, scholars, and travelers, who share a common interest in lessening the profound information gap between China and the rest of the world. In sixteen new essays, they address such key topics as civil society, consumerism, environmental adversity, ethnic tension, the Internet, legal reform, new media and social networking, nationalist tourism, sex and popular culture, as well the costs of urban gigantism to portray the complexity of life in contemporary China—and how, increasingly, it speaks to the everyday experience of Americans. Contributions by: David Bandurski, Susan D. Blum, Timothy Cheek, Gady Epstein, Andrew S. Erickson, Lionel M. Jensen, John Kamm, Wenquing Kang, Katherine Palmer Kaup, Travis Klingberg, Orion A. Lewis, Benjamin L. Liebman, Jonathan S. Noble, Tim Oakes, Jessica C. Teets, Alex L. Wang, and Timothy B. Weston.
This is the third volume in the popular series China beyond the Headlines by Rowman & Littlefield. The first volume, China beyond the Headlines, was published in 2000, and the second volume, China’s Transformations: The Stories beyond the Headlines, in 2007. The series has made contributions in two dimensions. First, academically, it helps our understanding of contemporary China. . . . This series has enabled readers to capture the main aspects of a changing China. Second, there is a policy dimension, namely, China’s relations with the West, particularly with the United States. The editors have a specific target, namely, to influence the general public. Therefore, the volume is not only for academic circles, but also for ordinary people who are interested in international affairs. All the chapters in these volumes are easy to read without difficult academic jargon. The continuous publication of the series points to its success. Readers appreciate their great efforts. ... Overall, [this] volume is structured into three levels. At the first level, the editors want to show what changes have happened in China and how they happened. At the second level, they attempt to demonstrate how limited these changes are for China politically, particularly in regards to democratization and human rights progress. . . At the third level, they seek to spell out how such limited changes will affect China’s relations with the outside world, particularly the United States. . . . To a great degree, at all these levels, this volume has achieved its goal.