Patriotic Professionalism in Urban China: Fostering Talent

In the post-Maoist era, China adopted a strategy for investing in the OC qualityOCO of its peopleOCothrough education and training opportunitiesOCothat created "talented "labor. In her significant ethnographic study, "Patriotic Professionalism in Urban China," Lisa Hoffman explains why the development of OC human capitalOCO is seen as fundamental for economic growth and national progress. She examines these new urban employees, who were deemed vital to the success of the global city in China, and who hoped for social mobility, a satisfying career, and perhaps a family.

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"Patriotic Professionalism in Urban China" addresses the emergence of this urban professional subject in Dalian, a port city in China. Hoffman identifies who these new professionals are, what choices they have made, and how they have remained closely connected with the nationOCoalthough not necessarily the Communist partyOColeading to a new social form she calls OC Patriotic Professionalism.OCO

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Hoffman contributes to the understanding of changing urban life in China while providing an analysis of the countryOCOs OC late-socialist neoliberalism.OCO In the process, she asks pressing questions about how such shifts in urban life reshape cities, impact individual and family decisions, and reflect economic growth in China in tandem with OC globalOCO neoliberal practices.