China Made

By Karl Gerth,

Book cover of China Made: Consumer Culture and the Creation of the Nation

Book description

"Chinese people should consume Chinese products!" This slogan was the catchphrase of a movement in early twentieth-century China that sought to link consumption and nationalism by instilling a concept of China as a modern "nation" with its own "national products." From fashions in clothing to food additives, from museums to…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked China Made as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Gerth's sweeping research, eye for detail, and beautiful prose help us understand how the rejection of foreign commodities was critical to the creation of Chinese nationalism and state-building in the early twentieth century. Rather than reject consumer culture per se, the Government and businesses pushed the Chinese to consume only "Chinese" goods. This nationalistic consumer culture was built though with the same tools we find in the West--advertising, exhibitions, and fashion. Chinese consumer culture can be seen then as both global and local.

Want books like China Made?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like China Made.

Browse books like China Made

Book cover of Tea in China: A Religious and Cultural History
Book cover of The Social Life of Opium in China
Book cover of Harvesting Mountains: Fujian and the China Tea Trade, 1757-1937

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,592

readers submitted
so far, will you?

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in China, the economy, and presidential biography?

China 662 books
The Economy 183 books