Hi Barry and AoIRists, As a wrinkle on your comment - my colleagues here working on this topic / project argue that the Cultural Revolution actually inaugurated the movement towards individualism in the P.R.C. By removing very large numbers of people from their traditional family and social structures - the structures that define and reinforce more relational forms of selfhood / identity - the Cultural Revolution thereby forced people to turn more to their own / individual resources for identity, meaning, etc. I mention this primarily as a way of inviting others on this list who study China far more intensively than I do to comment. Thanks again, and all best, - c. On 05.08.13 14:53, "Barry Wellman" <wellman@chass.utoronto.ca> wrote:
I echo Charles Ess in noting the rise of individualism in China. (Or to put it another way, the ending of the short-term Cultural Rev suppression of individualism.)