Abstract

XIN, Liu. The Enigma of China. Antipod. Rev. Antropol. Arqueol. [online]. 2013, n.16, pp.27-58. ISSN 1900-5407.

Alongside China's material growth, there has come a gradual but steady change in its mentality of governance. This article tries to show one crucial aspect of such a change, having taken place in the past couple of decades, which has given that social giant a new global outlook. The article, based on ethnographic field research, hopes to shed light on the process of statisticalization that, supposedly scientific and modern, has turned itself into a predominant official means for management and administration. The goal is to demonstrate the problematic nature of such a transformation, occurring on the Maoist ruins and generating a number of social sentiments that reflect the growing economic disparity already an undeniable social fact for today's China.

Keywords : China; mentality of governance; conceptual ethnography; statistics or statistical reasoning.

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