China's One Child Policy

This introduction to Chinese society uses the themes of resistance and protest to explore the complexity of life in contemporary China. The book draws on perspectives from sociology, anthropology, psychology, history and political science and covers a broad range of issues including women, labour, ethnic conflict and suicide. This new revised edition adds three new chapters on Falun Gong, Christianity and land struggles and provides a comprehensive resource for both undergraduates and specialists in the field and encourages the reader to challenge conventional images of contemporary Chinese society.

Zhou argues that, rather than the communist leadership, it is Chinese farmers who have been the driving force behind their country's phenomenal economic growth and social change. She focuses on local initiatives and the stories of ordinary people.