Producing Guanxi

Sentiment, Self, and Subculture in a North China Village

Nonfiction, History, Asian, China, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Anthropology
Cover of the book Producing Guanxi by Andrew B. Kipnis, Duke University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Andrew B. Kipnis ISBN: 9780822377689
Publisher: Duke University Press Publication: October 1, 2012
Imprint: Duke University Press Books Language: English
Author: Andrew B. Kipnis
ISBN: 9780822377689
Publisher: Duke University Press
Publication: October 1, 2012
Imprint: Duke University Press Books
Language: English

Throughout China the formation of guanxi, or social connections, involves friends, families, colleagues, and acquaintances in complex networks of social support and sentimental attachment. Focusing on this process in one rural north China village, Fengjia, Andrew Kipnis shows what guanxi production reveals about the evolution of village political economy, kinship and gender, and local patterns of subjectivity in Dengist China. His work offers a detailed description of the communicative actions—such as gift giving, being a host or guest, participating in weddings or funerals—that produce, manage, and deny guanxi in a specific time and place. Kipnis also offers a rare comparative analysis of how these practices relate to the varied and variable phenomenon of guanxi throughout China and as it has changed over time.
Producing Guanxi combines the theory of Pierre Bourdieu and the insights of symbolic anthropology to contest past portrayals of guanxi as either a function of Chinese political economics or an unchanging Confucian social structure. In this analysis guanxi emerges as a purposeful human effort that makes use of past cultural logics while generating new ones. By exploring the role of sentiment in the creation of self, Kipnis critiques recent theories of subjectivity for their narrow focus on language and discourse, and contributes to the anthropological discussion of comparative selfhood. Navigating a path between mainstream social science and abstract social theory, Kipnis presents a more nuanced examination of guanxi than has previously been available and contributes generally to our understanding of relationships and human action.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Throughout China the formation of guanxi, or social connections, involves friends, families, colleagues, and acquaintances in complex networks of social support and sentimental attachment. Focusing on this process in one rural north China village, Fengjia, Andrew Kipnis shows what guanxi production reveals about the evolution of village political economy, kinship and gender, and local patterns of subjectivity in Dengist China. His work offers a detailed description of the communicative actions—such as gift giving, being a host or guest, participating in weddings or funerals—that produce, manage, and deny guanxi in a specific time and place. Kipnis also offers a rare comparative analysis of how these practices relate to the varied and variable phenomenon of guanxi throughout China and as it has changed over time.
Producing Guanxi combines the theory of Pierre Bourdieu and the insights of symbolic anthropology to contest past portrayals of guanxi as either a function of Chinese political economics or an unchanging Confucian social structure. In this analysis guanxi emerges as a purposeful human effort that makes use of past cultural logics while generating new ones. By exploring the role of sentiment in the creation of self, Kipnis critiques recent theories of subjectivity for their narrow focus on language and discourse, and contributes to the anthropological discussion of comparative selfhood. Navigating a path between mainstream social science and abstract social theory, Kipnis presents a more nuanced examination of guanxi than has previously been available and contributes generally to our understanding of relationships and human action.

More books from Duke University Press

Cover of the book Dissident Syria by Andrew B. Kipnis
Cover of the book Chinese Visions of World Order by Andrew B. Kipnis
Cover of the book Consuming Russia by Andrew B. Kipnis
Cover of the book Cosmopolitanism by Andrew B. Kipnis
Cover of the book The Biopolitics of Feeling by Andrew B. Kipnis
Cover of the book Aesthetics and Marxism by Andrew B. Kipnis
Cover of the book The Unbounded Community by Andrew B. Kipnis
Cover of the book Queer Iberia by Andrew B. Kipnis
Cover of the book The Power at the End of the Economy by Andrew B. Kipnis
Cover of the book Orientalism and Modernism by Andrew B. Kipnis
Cover of the book Origins of Modern Japanese Literature by Andrew B. Kipnis
Cover of the book Literary Authority and the Modern Chinese Writer by Andrew B. Kipnis
Cover of the book Normal Life by Andrew B. Kipnis
Cover of the book In Darkness and Secrecy by Andrew B. Kipnis
Cover of the book Bodies of Work by Andrew B. Kipnis
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy