Governing Health in Contemporary China

Governing Health in Contemporary China
Author: Yanzhong Huang
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 192
Release: 2015-03-24
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 113615549X

The lack of significant improvement in people’s health status and other mounting health challenges in China raise a puzzling question about the country’s internal transition: why did the reform-induced dynamics produce an economic miracle, but fail to reproduce the success Mao had achieved in the health sector? This book examines the political and policy dynamics of health governance in post-Mao China. It explores the political-institutional roots of the public health and health care challenges and the evolution of the leaders’ policy response in contemporary China. It argues that reform-induced institutional dynamics, when interacting with Maoist health policy structure in an authoritarian setting, have not only contributed to the rising health challenges in contemporary China, but also shaped the patterns and outcomes of China’s health system transition. The study of China’s health governance will further our understanding of the evolving political system in China and the complexities of China’s rise. As the world economy and international security are increasingly vulnerable to major disease outbreaks in China, it also sheds critical light on China’s role in global health governance.

Mental Health in China

Mental Health in China
Author: Jie Yang
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 262
Release: 2017-11-10
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 1509502998

China's massive economic restructuring in recent decades has generated alarming incidences of mental disorder affecting over one hundred million people. This timely book provides an anthropological analysis of mental health in China through an exploration of psychology, psychiatry, psychotherapy and psychosocial practices, and the role of the State. The book offers a critical study of new characteristics and unique practices of Chinese psychology and cultural tradition, highlighting the embodied, holistic, heart-based approach to mental health. Drawing together voices from her own research and a broad range of theory, Jie Yang addresses the mental health of a diverse array of people, including members of China's elite, the middle class and underprivileged groups. She argues that the Chinese government aligns psychology with the imperatives and interests of state and market, mobilizing concepts of mental illness to resolve social, moral, economic, and political disorders while legitimating the continued rule of the party through psychological care and permissive empathy. This thoughtful analysis will appeal to those across the social sciences and humanities interested in well-being in China and the intersection of society, politics, culture, and mental health.

Health Care Transformation in Contemporary China

Health Care Transformation in Contemporary China
Author: Jiong Tu
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 252
Release: 2018-06-12
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9811307881

This multifaceted book examines the free market reform of the Chinese healthcare system in the 1980s and the more collectivist or socialist counter-reforms that have been implemented since 2009 to remedy some of the problems introduced by marketization. The book is based on an ethnographical study in a Chinese county from 2011 to 2012, which investigated local people’s experience of healthcare reforms and the various ways in which they have adapted their own behavior to the constraints and opportunities introduced by these reforms. It provides a vivid depiction of the morality and emotionality of people’s experiences of the Chinese healthcare system and the myriad frustrations and sometimes desperation it induces not only among patients with significant health problems and their families, but also healthcare practitioners caught between their desire to do right by their patients and the penalties they personally incur if they do not adhere to institutionalized cost-saving measures. The people’s experiences within China’s health sector presented reflect many similar experiences in the wider Chinese society. The book is thus a valuable resource for researchers and graduate students interested in China’s healthcare reforms and scholars concerned with issues of contemporary Chinese society.

Mao's Invisible Hand

Mao's Invisible Hand
Author: Sebastian Heilmann
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 336
Release: 2020-10-26
Genre: History
ISBN: 1684171164

"Observers have been predicting the demise of China’s political system since Mao Zedong’s death over thirty years ago. The Chinese Communist state, however, seems to have become increasingly adept at responding to challenges ranging from leadership succession and popular unrest to administrative reorganization, legal institutionalization, and global economic integration. What political techniques and procedures have Chinese policymakers employed to manage the unsettling impact of the fastest sustained economic expansion in world history?As the authors of these essays demonstrate, China’s political system allows for more diverse and flexible input than would be predicted from its formal structures. Many contemporary methods of governance have their roots in techniques of policy generation and implementation dating to the revolution and early PRC—techniques that emphasize continual experimentation. China’s long revolution had given rise to this guerrilla-style decisionmaking as a way of dealing creatively with pervasive uncertainty. Thus, even in a post-revolutionary PRC, the invisible hand of Chairman Mao—tamed, tweaked, and transformed—plays an important role in China’s adaptive governance."

Contemporary China

Contemporary China
Author: Tamara Jacka
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 327
Release: 2013-09-30
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1107292298

China's rapid economic growth, modernization and globalization have led to astounding social changes. Contemporary China provides a fascinating portrayal of society and social change in the contemporary People's Republic of China. This book introduces readers to key sociological perspectives, themes and debates about Chinese society. It explores topics such as family life, citizenship, gender, ethnicity, labour, religion, education, class and rural/urban inequalities. It considers China's imperial past, the social and institutional legacies of the Maoist era, and the momentous forces shaping it in the present. It also emphasises diversity and multiplicity, encouraging readers to consider new perspectives and rethink Western stereotypes about China and its people. Real-life case studies illustrate the key features of social relations and change in China. Definitions of key terms, discussion questions and lists of further reading help consolidate learning. Including full-colour maps and photographs, this book offers remarkable insight into Chinese society and social change.

To Govern China

To Govern China
Author: Vivienne Shue
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 336
Release: 2017-10-26
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1108153585

How, practically speaking, is the Chinese polity - as immense and fissured as it has now become - actually being governed today? Some analysts highlight signs of 'progress' in the direction of more liberal, open, and responsive rule. Others dwell instead on the many remaining 'obstacles' to a hoped-for democratic transition. Drawing together cutting-edge research from an international panel of experts, this volume argues that both those approaches rest upon too starkly drawn distinctions between democratic and non-democratic 'regime types', and concentrate too narrowly on institutions as opposed to practices. The prevailing analytical focus on adaptive and resilient authoritarianism - a neo-institutionalist concept - fails to capture what are often cross-cutting currents in ongoing processes of political change. Illuminating a vibrant repertoire of power practices employed in governing China today, these authors advance instead a more fluid, open-ended conceptual approach that privileges nimbleness, mutability, and receptivity to institutional and procedural invention and evolution.

The Palgrave Handbook of Local Governance in Contemporary China

The Palgrave Handbook of Local Governance in Contemporary China
Author: Jianxing Yu
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 767
Release: 2019-01-07
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9811327998

This Handbook provides a comprehensive overview of local governance in China, and offers original analysis of key factors underpinning trends in this field drawing on the expertise of scholars both inside and outside China. It explores and analyzes the dynamic interaction and collaboration among multiple governmental and non-governmental actors and social sectors with an interest in the conduct of public affairs to address horizontal challenges faced by the local government, society, economy, and civil community and considers key issues such as governance in urban and rural areas, the impact of technology on governance and related issues of education, healthcare, environment and energy. As the result of a global and interdisciplinary collaboration of leading experts, this Handbook offers a cutting-edge insight into the characteristics, challenges and trends of local governance and emphasizes the promotion of good governance and democratic development in China.

Governing Society In Contemporary China

Governing Society In Contemporary China
Author: Wei Shan
Publisher: World Scientific
Total Pages: 225
Release: 2016-07-28
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9814618608

This book examines how the Chinese state responds to the increasingly diverse civil society and maintains regime stability in a changing society. In recent years, the Chinese leadership has demonstrated great capability of adapting and developing sophisticated mechanisms of social control. The chapters in this book cover a wide range of these mechanisms, including co-opting social forces, managing population and migration, as well as controlling the media, trade unions, the internet, non-governmental organisations, and the cultural industries. The authors also discuss challenges the government is about to face and possible adjustments.

State and Peasant in Contemporary China

State and Peasant in Contemporary China
Author: Jean C. Oi
Publisher: Univ of California Press
Total Pages: 311
Release: 1991-08-12
Genre: History
ISBN: 0520076370

This is a study of peasant-state relations and village politics as they have evolved in response to the state's attempts to control the division of the harvest and extract the state-defined surplus. To provide the reader with a clearer sense of the evolution of peasant-state relations over almost a forty-year period and to highlight the dramatic changes that have taken place since 1978,1 have divided my analysis into two parts: Chapters 2 through 7 are on Maoist China, and chapters 8 and 9 are on post-Mao China. The first part examines the state's grain policies and patterns of local politics that emerged during the highly collectivized Maoist period, when the state closed free grain markets and established the system of unified purchase and sales (tonggou tongxiao). The second part describes the new methods for the production and division of the harvest after 1978, when the government decollectivized agriculture and abolished its unified procurement program.

The SAGE Handbook of Contemporary China

The SAGE Handbook of Contemporary China
Author: Weiping Wu
Publisher: SAGE
Total Pages: 1356
Release: 2018-07-09
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1526455617

An exploration of the transformations of contemporary China, firmly grounded in both disciplinary and China-specific contexts.