In the last few years, the Chinese labour movement has witnessed significant developments, not only with the occurrence of some of the largest strikes in decades but also the emergence of grave challenges for workers and activists. Made in China is an open access journal that springs from the belief that this calls for more serious analysis from both scholars and practitioners, as well for a critical engagement with a broader international audience interested in forging international solidarity.
No expertise comes without constant doubt and a willingness to challenge established truths. Chinoiresie represents our attempt to question some of today’s understandings and certainties about China. It blends the image of a ‘chinoiserie’—a foreign interpretation and imitation of Chinese artistic traditions, a term that over time has come to assume the meaning of a clichè, a stereotypical view of China—with the concept of ‘heresy’—an unorthodox view aimed at challenging a given truth.
ESSAYS
China’s Religion Law and the Perils of Counting Consciousness
Thomas David DuBois
The work of an historian of Chinese religion overlaps with, and sometimes confronts, the work of rights advocates. These encounters can be uncomfortable for both parties. Scholars, diplomats and jurists often have very different ideas of what rights are worth protecting, and what counts as religion. As recent revisions to China’s religions law show, ideas about religion in China are changing quickly.
ESSAYS
Hope and Disenchantment: Shifting Outlooks on Life among Chinese Youths and Their Taiwanese Peers
Désirée Remmert
Are young people more optimistic in Mainland China or in Taiwan? Up until now, it seems that educated youths on the Mainland have maintained a firm meritocratic ideology and a strong optimism with regard to the country’s future. Across the Taiwan Strait, however, economic stagnation has led many a young student and professional to have a grim future outlook. But things may now be changing.