Venue
Lipsius Building Room 148
Cleveringaplaats 1
2311 BD Leiden

Everyone is welcome!

The new middle class in China

The new middle class in China – who are they? What are their dreams? What do they worry about? Can you be happy in a dictatorship? And how about sex?

Journalist and anthropologist Sybilla Claus writes for the Dutch daily newspaper Trouwabout East Asia. She will talk about two special projects she researched in China.

1. Wherever you look, China is building apartment buildings. In 2020 there will be hundreds of cities with a million inhabitants. But who is living in all those flats? Sybilla Claus lived for a week in Tower XII of a new high-rise complex.
2. Soul searching: the changing moral landscape.
   a. Chinese citizens are better off economically, and feel emotionally liberated. But can the modern Chinese be happy in a dictatorship?
   b. A sexual revolution is happening in China, of course in Red style. How do citizens find their (erotic) way between the do-nots of censorship?
   c. Chinese are world champions in hard working and making money – but spending it is a different story. Philantrophy and volunteer work are upcoming phenomena.

MEARC

Modern East Asia Research Centre (MEARC)’s mission is to be an international centre of excellence for research on contemporary East Asia. MEARC aims to maximize the impact of East Asia research on stakeholders within and outside academia in the Netherlands and beyond. MEARC funds original research projects, serves as hub for academic and non-academic networks, organizes targeted dissemination events, and offers bespoke executive courses. MEARC’s expertise includes politics and international relations, and deep insight into the socio-cultural and economic dynamics of contemporary East Asia.