"Hans Steinmüller's 'Communities of Complicity' is a shining example of
ethnography's relevance to contemporary understandings of
China...[His] careful combination of rich ethnographic writing,
eloquent theory, and clearly outlined methodology also makes it an
excellent reading for students. His ethnography stands testament to the
depth of insight possible through a more classical anthropological
project. With the anthropology of China increasingly engaging with
urbanization, mobility, and wider macro forces, Steinmüller's village
ethnography is a refreshing reminder of the importance of the rural in
understanding contemporary China." - Anthropos
"...an ethnographically rich and theoretically innovative book.
Innovative because the theory is very much developed out of the
ethnography, rather than imposed on it." - Asian Anthropology
"This rich ethnography... is a very valuable and unique contribution to
the growing body of literature concerned with morality and moral
uncertainties within a rapidly changing contemporary China." - The China
Journal
"...a fascinating and vivid ethnography which examines the ethical
reflexivity of the everyday lives of ordinary people in rural China.
It... provides a rich and nuanced account of the rapid social change
faced by villagers there. Steinmüller's work is theoretically extremely
rich." - LSE Review of Books
"This book is both strong on ethnographic detail as well as theoretical
ambition. Its unique contribution is to see the relationship between
postsocialist state and rural communities, and therefore the development
of everyday ethics in contemporary China, in a new light - namely
through the lenses of irony and cultural intimacy." - Susanne
Brandtstädter, University of Oslo
"The author does an excellent job of providing a theoretical context or
frame in which some material that might seem 'mundane' becomes seen as
having very important stakes about the contested moralities of everyday
life in contemporary China. The examination of the everyday ironies that
people use in talking about social expectations is particularly
exciting...He engages some very relevant arguments both within
anthropology and beyond it in philosophy and literature." - Alan Smart,
University of Calgary
Everyday life in contemporary rural China is characterized by an
increased sense of moral challenge and uncertainty. Ordinary people
often find themselves caught between the moral frameworks of capitalism,
Maoism and the Chinese tradition. This ethnographic study of the village
of Zhongba (in Hubei Province, central China) is an attempt to grasp the
ethical reflexivity of everyday life in rural China. Drawing on
descriptions of village life, interspersed with targeted theoretical
analyses, the author examines how ordinary people construct their own
senses of their lives and their futures in everyday activities: building
houses, working, celebrating marriages and funerals, gambling and
dealing with local government. The villagers confront moral uncertainty;
they creatively harmonize public discourse and local practice; and
sometimes they resolve incoherence and unease through the use of irony.
In so doing, they perform everyday ethics and re-create transient moral
communities at a time of massive social dislocation.
Hans Steinmüller is Lecturer in the Department of Anthropology and
convenor of the MSc China in Comparative Perspective at the London
School of Economics.
