event #02
October, 26 2010

From Comrade to Consumer
People, Relationships & Social Attitudes Since the 1980s

Supplementary Materials

1. New York Times Review
   http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/13/books/review/Kahn-t.html
   ‘Socialism is Great!’ – Lijia Zhang – Book Review – New York Times
2. The Changing Face of China: From Mao to Market
   John Gittings, Oxford University Press, 2006
   “In the 60 years since Mao Zedong took the road to victory, China has undergone not one but two  revolutions. The first swept away the old corrupt society and sought to build a ‘spotless’ new socialism behind closed doors; the second since Mao’s death has focused on an economic agenda which accepts the goals of global capitalism. From Mao to the global market, Gittings charts this complex but epic tale  and concludes with some hard questions for the future.” – Oxford University Press
3. Contemporary Chinese Society and Politics
   Andrew Kipnis, Luigi Tomba, Jonathan Unger, Routledge, 2009
   “Chinese society and its political system are predicated on traditions of governing that are
   deeply alien to most readers from liberal, Western powers. . . to what extent can socialscience
   theories of political rule, hierarchy and power, class formation, economic
   development, urbanization, and demographic and family transition, which were developed in Western contexts, explain China’s societal and political dynamics? What sorts of theoretical language have emerged from the study of Chinese society and politics, and how might these theories enable social scientists to view social and political dynamics in other parts of the world in a new light?
   Contemporary Chinese Society and Politics, a new four-volume Major Work from Routledge, explores and answers these and other urgent questions by collecting the best foundational and cutting-edge scholarship on Mao-era and contemporary Chinese society and politics.” -Routledge
4. Peacock (孔雀), 2005
   Directed by Gu Changwei (顾长卫)， written by Li Qiang (李强)
   This moving story traces the divergent lives of three siblings in the aftermath of the Cultural Revolution. It received the Jury Grand Prix Silver Bear at the 2005 Berlin International Film Festival.
5. Platform (站台), 2000
   Written and Directed by Jia Zhangke 贾樟柯
   Dubbed an “epic of grassroots,” by critics, Platform follows a group of young performers
   throughout the challenges they face societally and otherwise in late 20th Century Shanxi.
   It was voted second best film of the decade by the Toronto International Film Festival.