Globalization euphoria and enthusiasm for the West are on the decline in contemporary China. Critical voices make themselves heard in artistic and cultural circles, turning towards their
personal everyday lives to take stock. Their questions revolve around concrete experiences in the radical upheaval of lifeworlds, the continued significance of traditions after many of them
have been thoroughly uprooted, and the paradoxes produced by the predominance of neoliberalism. The 17 positions assembled in this volume provide a vivid illustration of such a ?new
thoughtfulness? in a wide variety of aspects ranging from aesthetics and art to theatre and photography.
