This issue of China Currents once again covers a wide swatch of intellectual territory for anyone interested in tracking contemporary China, from the political economy of Chinese agriculture, to the economics and geopolitics of trade, to cultural products, and sociological insights. John Givens and Andrew MacDonald examine an age-old issue in China: exploitation of farmers by local officials. Givens and MacDonald report that while tax rates may have been lowered, local officials continue to find ways to squeeze farmers. Donald Johnson turns to geopolitics, offering an example from Chinese history to argue that Donald Trump’s trade wars and inward focus could result in making China, and not America, great. Paul Foster reviews Rich Crazy Asians and comments on how the film relates to the “Chinese dream.” Jie Zhang examines the Wolf Warrior films and discusses how they turn the tables on the dominant western narrative of who can be a hero. And China Currents Managing Editor Penny Prime interviews the noted sociologist Deborah Davis, professor emerita from Yale, about her work on marriage and the family, among other topics.
