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Despite growing affluence, a large number of urban Chinese have problems making ends meet. Based on ethnographic research among several different types of communities in Guangzhou, China, Soup, Love and a Helping Hand examines different modes and ideologies of help/support, as well as the related issues of reciprocity, relatedness (kinship), and changing state-society relations in contemporary China. With an emphasis on the subjective experience, Fleischer’s research carefully explores people’s ideas about moral obligations, social expectations, and visions of urban Chinese society.
“Soup, Love, and a Helping Hand is a very good introductory text for those who have never been to China, because it delineates contemporary forms of social support and the general context of this modern society.” • JRAI (Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute)
“The ethnography throughout is solidly empirical and also delicately sensitive to multiple nuances of meaning, the myriad of considerations that enter into each act of support, whether in reciprocity or in generalized gift, and the weight of consequences in precarious circumstances…The volume is well-written, concise, and readable, valuable for readers in the field and accessible for both informed general readers and university students.” • Anthropos
“This excellent monograph will be of great use to both scholars of contemporary China as well as to students at both graduate and undergraduate levels.” • Ellen Oxfeld, Middlebury College
Friederike Fleischer is Associate Professor at the Department of Anthropology, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia. She was previously a post-doctoral fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Halle, Germany. She is the author of Surburban Beijing (2010), and co-editor of Ethnographies of Support (2013).
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements
Map
List of Main Interlocutors
PART I: SOUP
Chapter 1. “If Not His Child, Who Will Pay for His Living?”: Household and Kin-Based Support
Chapter 2. Neighbors and Friends
Chapter 3. Support and Reciprocity
PART II: LOVE
Chapter 4. Religious Revival
Chapter 5. The Church: Social and Religious Services
Chapter 6. Love: A Community of Believers
PART III: A HELPING HAND
Chapter 7. Philanthropy, Charity, and Volunteerism
Chapter 8. Inspirations and Motivations to Volunteer
Chapter 9. Volunteering: Governmentality and Agency
Conclusion: Soup, Love, and a Helping Hand: Urban Transformations and the Ethics of Social Support
Bibliography
Index