The People's Republic of China at 60 - 9780674060647

This collection of 26 papers explores the contemporary history and current trends of Chinese government and society six decades after the Chinese Revolution. The contributions have been organized by editor Kirby (director, Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, Harvard U.) according to four main themes: politics, including the international dimension; social transformations of human communities, individual lives, spatial settings, and governance; wealth and well-being in the context of the promise of socialism and the revival of capitalism; and culture, belief, and practice in such realms as art, religion, and ethnic identity. The identification of the collection as "an international assessment" seems a bit of a misnomer, as the vast majority of contributors are affiliated with American academic institutions (Harvard in particular), although a number of these may indeed have an international background and a handful of contributors from Chinese institutions are also included, as are one contributor from Europe and one from Canada. Three of the papers are presented in Chinese with English language abstracts. Annotation ©2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)