What do you think?
Rate this book
Race, Migration & Demography
Population in China
China is home to a fifth of the world�s inhabitants. For the last several decades, this huge population has been in flux: fertility has fallen sharply, mortality has declined, and massive rural-to-urban migration is taking place. The state has played a direct role in these changes, seeing population control as an important part of its intention to modernize the country.
In this insightful new work, Nancy E. Riley argues that China�s population policies and outcomes are not simply imposed by the state onto an unresponsive citizenry, but have arisen from the social organization of China over the past sixty years. Riley demonstrates how China�s population and population policy are intertwined and interact with other social and economic features. Riley also examines the unintended consequences of state directives, including the extraordinary number of �missing girls,� the rapid aging of the population, and an increase in inequality, particularly between rural and urban residents.
Ultimately, China�s demographic story has to be understood as a complex, multi-pieced phenomenon. This book will be essential reading for researchers and students of China and social demography, as well as non-specialists interested in the changing nature of China�s population.
In this insightful new work, Nancy E. Riley argues that China�s population policies and outcomes are not simply imposed by the state onto an unresponsive citizenry, but have arisen from the social organization of China over the past sixty years. Riley demonstrates how China�s population and population policy are intertwined and interact with other social and economic features. Riley also examines the unintended consequences of state directives, including the extraordinary number of �missing girls,� the rapid aging of the population, and an increase in inequality, particularly between rural and urban residents.
Ultimately, China�s demographic story has to be understood as a complex, multi-pieced phenomenon. This book will be essential reading for researchers and students of China and social demography, as well as non-specialists interested in the changing nature of China�s population.
224 pages, ebook
Published December 16, 2016
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
April 22, 2024
Relatively short, rather dry. I read it because I'd read a more popular account of problems with/created by the One Child policy, and then I read something somewhere complaining about non-experts pontificating on China's demographic problems, so I thought I'd get a second opinion. Also this covered many aspects of demography not directly related to the One Child policy, so it was good to get a somewhat wider viewpoint.
From what I read in this rather more academic book, everything was more or less kosher with the more popular book (One Child by Mei Fong), although this book was fairly resistant to make any predictions about the consequences of, say, 1/5 of men being unable to find a wife by 2020, saying that the Chinese family has survived a great deal especially in the 20th century, family structures will adapt to the new situation, which is a good reminder.
Overall I was hoping for something a bit more predictive and looking at economic consequences, but it's 100% understandable that this book wouldn't cover it. Also this is from 2017, so some numbers are out of date and Covid isn't covered (although the SARS bit was very reminiscent!).
From what I read in this rather more academic book, everything was more or less kosher with the more popular book (One Child by Mei Fong), although this book was fairly resistant to make any predictions about the consequences of, say, 1/5 of men being unable to find a wife by 2020, saying that the Chinese family has survived a great deal especially in the 20th century, family structures will adapt to the new situation, which is a good reminder.
Overall I was hoping for something a bit more predictive and looking at economic consequences, but it's 100% understandable that this book wouldn't cover it. Also this is from 2017, so some numbers are out of date and Covid isn't covered (although the SARS bit was very reminiscent!).
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review