Abstract
Shanzhai (山寨) is now relatively well documented as a subculture that produces imitations or parodies, typically of designer label products. In Fashioning China, Sara Liao provides an analysis of her fascinating in-depth study of the practice of shanzhai culture amongst clothing makers in China. In doing so she picks apart nationalist, developmentalist, masculinist, and technocratic rhetoric and practices with nuance and finesse.
Liao draws upon secondary data such as policy documents and advertisements, as well as conducting her own interviews and participant observation. This mixed-methods approach provides a rich range of sources from which to draw her analysis. It also allows for a very legitimate yet sensitive appraisal of the motivations behind shanzhai and the struggles beyond the economic that are part of it. Specifically, Liao is concerned with the precarity of women’s labour, and provides insights from participants such as Mey, who on finding her employment in a military institution dull and unpromising so decided to ‘follow her heart’ and devote her energies to fashion (p. 127).
Of particular interest also is the way in which Liao analyses how shanzhai workers are trying to be part of the new entrepreneurial ‘Chinese Dream’ – a term that surfaced during Xi Jinping’s leadership. She explains how the dream discourse has captivated female shanzhai workers by ‘consolidating their imitative business tactics into an aspirational entrepreneurial lexicon and set of social practices’ (p. 124). She argues that women are dreaming a Chinese Dream of their own and yet are denied recognition due to the uncertain legal status of their mode of production. In Liao’s view these women face the impossibility of ever actualizing a Chinese Dream, but, more importantly, she argues they are ‘actively seeking out their own spaces in which to live their own Shanzhai dreams’, not based on patriotic duty (p. 125). These philosophical thoughts on changing culture are what makes this book far richer than a simple piece of ethnographic work.
The structure of the book works well, with the first two chapters mapping out the landscape of the fashion industry and precarious labour in China; the middle two chapters focussing in more depth on shanzhai itself as a practice and as an ethos; and the final two chapters opening up the debate again in light of the development of China and transnational capitalism. This structure has a pleasing effect of swooping in to the detail of practices, before swooping out again to view them in much wider perspective. It leaves the reader with a sense of having gained detailed knowledge as well as broad philosophical understanding.
Without doubt, Fashioning China makes an extremely useful contribution to current debates, not only in the specific field of consumer culture in China, but also in the broader area of China’s socio-economic and cultural development more generally. There are some points where certain classic texts of Cultural Studies are drawn upon in a way that makes them feel not entirely relevant – the obligatory mention of Gilles Deleuze and Jean Baudrillard for example when their thinking (although brilliant of course) does not add much in this context. However, this is overshadowed by the use of more recent and pertinent academic thinking in the area, especially that by non-Western writers. In particular, Liao’s nuanced reading of the role of network capitalism, the blurring of producer and consumer categories, and the potential of the commons within shanzhai culture and practice is to be celebrated.
Whilst many aspects of the empirical work undertaken may be of interest to undergraduate students in the fields of cultural studies, sociology, or marketing, the main audience for this book is likely to be a postgraduate one. Shanzhai and the socio-economic issues surrounding it are a very specific case study that requires more than a passing knowledge of China. Although Liao brings into play aspects of Chinese history, such as Mao’s ‘iron rice bowl’ and Deng’s ‘leaping into the sea’ in a very accessible way, it is easy to underestimate the body of historical and cultural knowledge that this book draws upon. Although knowledge is not assumed, a grasp on the key moments in contemporary Chinese history would certainly aid a deeper understanding of the content. So, whilst it is written in a very accessible and engaging way, Liao’s book is more likely to be relevant to a postgraduate audience. This by no means detracts from its numerous merits.