Publication Date:
2024-03-29
Description:
If we want to understand contemporary China, the key is through understanding the older generation. This is the generation in China whose life courses almost perfectly synchronised with the emergence and growth of the 'New China' under the rule of the Communist Party (1949). People in their 70s and 80s have double the life expectancy of their parents' generation. The current oldest generation in Shanghai was born in a time when the average household could not afford electric lights, but today they can turn their lights off via their smartphone apps. Based on 16-month ethnographic fieldwork in Shanghai, Ageing with Smartphones in Urban China tackles the intersection between the 'two revolutions' experienced by the older generation in Shanghai: the contemporary smartphone-based digital revolution and the earlier communist revolutions. We find that we can only explain the smartphone revolution if we first appreciate the long-term consequences of these people's experiences during the communist revolutions. The context of this book is a wide range of dramatic social transformations in China, from the Cultural Revolution to the individualism and Confucianism in Digital China. Supported by detailed ethnographic material, the observations and analyses provide a panoramic view of the social landscape of contemporary China, including topics such as the digital and everyday life, ageing and healthcare, intergenerational relations and family development, community building and grassroots organizations, collective memories and political attitudes among ordinary Chinese people.
Keywords:
Anthropology
;
Communication Studies
;
Urban Studies
;
Technology
;
bic Book Industry Communication::J Society & social sciences::JH Sociology & anthropology::JHM Anthropology::JHMC Social & cultural anthropology, ethnography
;
bic Book Industry Communication::G Reference, information & interdisciplinary subjects::GT Interdisciplinary studies::GTC Communication studies
;
bic Book Industry Communication::J Society & social sciences::JF Society & culture: general::JFS Social groups::JFSG Urban communities
;
bic Book Industry Communication::J Society & social sciences::JF Society & culture: general::JFD Media studies
;
bic Book Industry Communication::J Society & social sciences::JH Sociology & anthropology
;
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JH Sociology and anthropology::JHM Anthropology::JHMC Social and cultural anthropology
;
thema EDItEUR::G Reference, Information and Interdisciplinary subjects::GT Interdisciplinary studies::GTC Communication studies
;
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBS Social groups, communities and identities::JBSD Urban communities
;
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBC Cultural and media studies::JBCT Media studies
;
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JH Sociology and anthropology
Language:
English
Format:
image/jpeg
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