Intimacy as a Lens on Work and Migration
Experiences of Ethnic Performers in Southwest China
1st Edition
Published on 25. June 2024
Book
Hardback
168 pages
978-1-5292-2585-3 (ISBN)
Description
This book explores the experiences of ethnic performers in a small Chinese city, aiming to better understand their work and migration journeys. Their unique position as service workers who have migrated within the same province provides valuable insights into the intersection of social inequalities related to the rural-urban divide, ethnicity and gender in contemporary China. Introducing the concept of 'intimacy as a lens', the author examines intimate negotiations involving emotions, sense of self and relationships as a way of understanding wider social inequalities.
Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, the book reveals the bordering mechanisms encountered by performers in their work as they navigate between rural and urban environments, as well as between ethnic minority and Han identities. Emphasising the intimate and personal nature of these encounters, the book argues that they can help inform understanding of broader social issues.
Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, the book reveals the bordering mechanisms encountered by performers in their work as they navigate between rural and urban environments, as well as between ethnic minority and Han identities. Emphasising the intimate and personal nature of these encounters, the book argues that they can help inform understanding of broader social issues.
Reviews / Votes
"In her excellent study, Jingyu Mao compellingly shows how close attention to intimacy, affect and embodiment in the workplace offers fresh insights into China's rural/urban divide and gender, class and ethnic inequalities." Amy Hanser, University of British Columbia "A pioneering piece of work calling for readers to recognise the systemic limitations and pervasive social inequalities that many in China's ethnic rural populations are faced with daily." Suvi Rautio, China Perspectives 2025 "The book provides a clear, concise, but very rich narrative for those who want to understand the internal migration and the recent dynamics of identity in modern China." Oguz Bulut Koek, International Migration "Mao Jingyu has produced a richly evidenced sociological study of ethnic performers in order to make the case for the importance of intimacy as enabling a kind of relational self-making in which personhood - specifically ethnic self-making - emerges out of dense work interactions." Louisa Schein, The China Quarterly"This thought-provoking and meticulously researched book offers a fresh perspective on how the intersections of labour, migration, ethnicity and gender shape and reshape the lives of these ethnic performers." Fengqiang Wang, Emotions and Society
More details
Series
Edition
First Edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Bristol
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Illustrations
4 s/w Abbildungen
4 Illustrations, black and white
Dimensions
Height: 162 mm
Width: 242 mm
Thickness: 16 mm
Weight
400 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-5292-2585-3 (9781529225853)
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
Jingyu Mao
Intimacy as a Lens on Work and Migration
Experiences of Ethnic Performers in Southwest China
E-Book
06/2024
1st Edition
Bristol University Press
€46.99
Available for download
Person
Jingyu Mao is Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Edinburgh.
Content
1. Introduction
2. Ethnic Performance Work
3. Intimate Negotiation Along the Rural-Urban Borders
4. Encountering Ethnicity
5. Gendering the Border Struggles
6. Conclusion
2. Ethnic Performance Work
3. Intimate Negotiation Along the Rural-Urban Borders
4. Encountering Ethnicity
5. Gendering the Border Struggles
6. Conclusion