Modern China: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

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CultureWars, September 2, 2008 (view all comments by CultureWars)
Mitter addresses himself to the question he clearly finds more interesting: is China modern? The difficulty is in deciding the criteria. The beginning of the book dealt with a vague mix of secularism, individualism, self-awareness and equality, but he’s aware it’s unsatisfactory to equate modernity with ‘the West’. This leads to some slightly contradictory conclusions. Mitter sees modernity during the Mao era, ‘This was the modern politics of the totalitarian state’; but also sees as an example of China’s modernisation that ‘China today is overall not a totalitarian state, nor a military junta, nor a state run at the personal whim of a dictator’. The Cultural Revolution, we are told, was meant to create a self-aware citizenry. But if ‘self-aware’ means being critical of your own actions, then the Cultural Revolution was one of the least self-aware periods of world history; and if it means knowing you’re part of a citizenry, then is this really part of being modern? The difficulty of settling on any fixed criteria means the chapter ‘Is Chinese Society Modern?’ drifts rather unstably from equality of the sexes, to the effects of war, to whether China is richer now than under Mao, to whether China is free, to self-improvement, to Taiwan, Hong Kong and overseas Chinese communities.

And so as to whether China is modern, it’s enough to say that to understand the modern world, we need to understand China. Rana Mitter’s book contains information galore and, despite its necessary omissions, will help many readers do just that.

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Product Details

ISBN:

9780199228027

Author:

Mitter, Rana

Publisher:

Oxford University Press, USA

Author:

null, Rana

Subject:

Asia - China

Subject:

China

Subject:

Civilization

Subject:

Economic Conditions

Subject:

Government - International

Subject:

China Civilization Western influences.

Subject:

China Civilization 20th century.

Subject:

History, World | Asian

Subject:

World History - China

Series:

Very Short Introductions

Publication Date:

20080431

Binding:

TRADE PAPER

Grade Level:

General/trade

Language:

English

Illustrations:

20 b/w halftones

Pages:

144

Dimensions:

4.2 x 6.8 x 0.3 in 0.3 lb