Raising the quality of belief: suzhi and the production of an elite protestantism

The paper addresses the changing dynamics of Protestantism in contemporary urban China through the lens of the Christian discourse of quality (suzhi). Linking suzhi with processes of identity and subject formation in the Chinese Protestant community, the paper shows that the religiosity of today’s C...

Full description

Saved in:  
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Cao, Nanlai (Author)
Format: Print Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Journals Online & Print:
Drawer...
Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Published: CEFC 2009
In: China perspectives
Year: 2009, Issue: 4/80, Pages: 54-65
Further subjects:B Social environment
B Einflussgröße
B Christianity
B Elite
B Religiosity
B Protestant
B Interest
B Volksrepublik China Protestantism Protestanten Elite Religiosity Religious organization Soziale Faktoren Wirtschaftliche Faktoren Identity Kollektive Identität Christianity
B China
B Protestantism
B Religious organization
B Identity
B Group identity
Description
Summary:The paper addresses the changing dynamics of Protestantism in contemporary urban China through the lens of the Christian discourse of quality (suzhi). Linking suzhi with processes of identity and subject formation in the Chinese Protestant community, the paper shows that the religiosity of today’s Chinese Protestants is not so much related to acts of spiritual seeking in a state-centred political framework as it is shaped by desires and practices of self-making among neoliberal individuals under rapid marketisation. It also demonstrates that Chinese Protestantism has undergone not just a quantitative increase but also a qualitative change that counters the one-dimensional representation of Christian religiosity in the post-Mao era. (China Perspectives/GIGA)
ISSN:2070-3449
Contains:In: China perspectives