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Constructing Commonality: Standardization and Modernization in Chinese Nation-Building

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 August 2012

Andrew B. Kipnis
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Abstract

This essay examines the importance of Chinese nation-building in the contemporary era. Defining nation-building in terms of processes that help to bridge local differences especially but not only when also distinguishing China from the rest the world, I argue that a focus on globalization has masked the importance of Chinese nation-building to contemporary social change. I analyze three very different societal arenas in which national forms of commonality are being constructed: the consolidation of the education system, the expansion of the urban built environment, and the spread of the Chinese Internet. Though each arena illustrates a very different aspect of the nation-building process, they all result in an increased degree of commonality in lived experience and communicative practice across China.

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Type
Research Article
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The Journal of Asian Studies , Volume 71 , Issue 3 , August 2012 , pp. 731 - 755
Copyright
Copyright © The Association for Asian Studies, Inc. 2012

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