The Otherness of Self: A Genealogy of Self in Contemporary China

The realities of the social life in China's business practices reveal an increasing divergence from the ideologies of the Chinese state. In this engaging work, Xin Liu examines the Asian economic crisis and, particularly, the rise of China as a major trading power in the region. Liu illuminates a history of conjuncture, including the effects of the Maoist revolution and the influence of transnational capital and capitalism. The Otherness of Self, in addition to being an anthropological study of the development of so-called high-tech industries in (South) China, also explores the complex formation of capital in a developing new world of business practices. By tracing the birth and development of the Beihai Star Group, a high-tech company that achieved success despite a major national economic crisis, Xin Liu shows how a capitalist order emerged within a self-proclaimed socialist country.