
China: The Basics
Anna L. Lora-Wainwright(Author)
Routledge (Publisher)
1st Edition
Published on 29. May 2026
Book
Hardback
236 pages
978-1-032-85895-1 (ISBN)
Description
Drawing on over two decades of research in and on China and on extensive reviews of current scholarship, China: The Basics introduces readers to the key aspects of Chinese society, culture, and politics.
The book provides an empirically rich overview of China's global position and the challenges posed by urbanisation, uneven economic development, and environmental governance. With detailed vignettes giving a flavour of everyday life experiences, China: The Basics challenges simplistic approaches to China as a monolithic political unit by illustrating the nuances of citizens' agency in different realms, including work-based and gender-based inequality, social media activism, environmental protection, illness, and healthcare. It encourages readers to reflect on the importance of scale across the themes discussed. Cross-cutting referencing between chapters enables readers to identify cross-cutting themes and to consult chapters in their preferred order.
China: The Basics nurtures a critical and reflexive approach and provides readers with a conceptual toolkit for engaging with new developments constructively. It will be essential reading for students, lecturers, and anyone curious about contemporary China.
The book provides an empirically rich overview of China's global position and the challenges posed by urbanisation, uneven economic development, and environmental governance. With detailed vignettes giving a flavour of everyday life experiences, China: The Basics challenges simplistic approaches to China as a monolithic political unit by illustrating the nuances of citizens' agency in different realms, including work-based and gender-based inequality, social media activism, environmental protection, illness, and healthcare. It encourages readers to reflect on the importance of scale across the themes discussed. Cross-cutting referencing between chapters enables readers to identify cross-cutting themes and to consult chapters in their preferred order.
China: The Basics nurtures a critical and reflexive approach and provides readers with a conceptual toolkit for engaging with new developments constructively. It will be essential reading for students, lecturers, and anyone curious about contemporary China.
Reviews / Votes
"This concise book makes a wonderful introduction for students and others who are new to China and curious to learn more. Juggling themes such as state control versus individual agency, China's global aspirations and its domestic challenges, it helps the reader understand and reflect at the same time. It is a much-needed contribution, very useful also for teachers in colleges and universities." - Mette Halskov Hansen, Professor of China Studies, University of OsloMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
General and Undergraduate Core
Illustrations
19 Farbfotos bzw. farbige Rasterbilder, 19 farbige Abbildungen
19 Halftones, color; 19 Illustrations, color
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 129 mm
Weight
630 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-032-85895-1 (9781032858951)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Anna L. Lora-Wainwright
China: The Basics
E-Book
05/2026
1st Edition
Routledge
€31.49
Available for download

Anna L. Lora-Wainwright
China: The Basics
Book
05/2026
1st Edition
Routledge
€30.00
Available immediately

Anna L. Lora-Wainwright
China: The Basics
E-Book
05/2026
1st Edition
Routledge
€31.49
Available for download
Person
Anna L. Lora-Wainwright is Professor of the Human Geography of China at the University of Oxford. She has a PhD in Social and Cultural Anthropology from Oxford University; and an MA in Chinese Studies and a BA in Anthropology, both from the School of Oriental and African Studies, London. She is the author of two monographs on contemporary rural China and of numerous articles in the fields of social and medical anthropology, geography and environmental politics. Her current research focuses on evolving forms of morality and practices of care in China and among overseas Chinese.
Content
Introduction 1. China in the World 2. China's Economic Miracle and Evolving Forms of Stratification 3. Many Shades of Urbanisation and the Revival of Rurality 4. Gender Inequality between Change and Continuity 5. Is There a Civil Society in China? 6. What Environmental Challenges? Whose Environmental Challenges? 7. Health, Illness and Healthcare Between Moral Experience and State Power Conclusion