China's Transformations: The Stories beyond the Headlines [Paperback]

A re-engagement with the editors' China beyond the Headlines (2000), with new insights and contributing authors, this compelling work is at once a critical assessment of contemporary Sino-U.S. relations and an appraisal of myriad social, political, and economic shifts within the PRC. Esteemed scholars, journalists, and activists engage in topics as diverse as the environment, eating habits, the Internet, film and literature, coal mining, Falun Gong, and journalism. . . . The book is highly accessible: all authors use a narrative writing style; a brief chronology and note on Chinese pronunciation preface the work; and each chapter includes a short list of recommended readings. This volume and its 2000 precursor address the editors' desire to contextualize China in an era when the U.S. is increasingly less distinct from the once exotic and mythologized 'middle kingdom.' Essential.The authors in this book provide the detailed information needed to understand the relationship of the Chinese regime with its citizens, making it essential reading for a general audience. . . . The authors are a group of prominent scholars and practitioners cutting across standard social science and humanities boundaries. . . . Each chapter is distinguished by a thorough understanding of its subject and . . . each goes beyond a mere descriptive account, placing the analysis in a political, historical, cultural, social and/or economic context. . . . It would make an excellent textbook and should provoke exciting classroom discussions.The major contribution of the book is that it addresses the basic yet most critical issues in contemporary China in a comprehensive way. It provides a fresh and timely look at a changing China. Students and scholars of contemporary China will certainly benefit from reading the book.China's Transformations succeeds in providing an array of chapters on interesting topics that draw the reader in and stimulate thinking about both China and the ongoing dialogue betweelc