Suchergebnisse

AbstractThe article considers the dynamics in the nexus between the Chinese party-state and private entrepreneurs. It develops in response to both globalization and market reforms which promote accelerated individualisation and disembedding of citizens anchored in the new capitalist economy, such as private business people. It is argued that informal political agency is part of the political dynamics of the nexus and that it develops through critical tension between private business people and the autocratic party-state. This is illustrated through the case of Sun Dawu, a Hebei businessman turned political activist. Referring to both Bech and Bech-Gersheim's and Baumann's discussions about the effects of the twin processes of globalisation and individualisation, one of the main conclusions is that Sun Dawu has engaged in 'self-politics' through creating a sub-political or 'peg' community where he and others can exert informal political agency. The construction of such a community is an example of how assertive private business people may exploit the dynamics of the state-private business nexus through critical tension.

Foreword: varieties of individualization / Ulrich Beck and Elisabeth Beck-Gernsheim Introduction: conflicting images of the individual and contested process of individualization / Yunxiang Yan Idealizing individual choice: work, love and family in the eyes of young, rural Chinese / Mette Halskov Hansen and Cuiming Pang He is he and I am I: individual and collective among China's elderly / Sig Thoegersen and Ni Anru Individualization and the political agency of private business people in China / Joergen Delman and Yin Ziaoqing A collective of their own: young volunteers at the fringes of the party realm / Unn Malfrid H. Rolandsen Between self and community: the individual in contemporary Chinese literature / Anne Wedell-Wedellsborg Individual self-discipline and collective freedom in the minds of Chinese intellectuals / Rune Svarverud 'Friendly pressure': law and the individual in modern China / Klaus Muhlhahn Collective symbols and individual options: life on a state farm for returned overseas Chinese after decollectivization / Li Minghuan