Newborn Socialist Things

“Laurence Coderre takes ordinary objects from everyday life to create extraordinary insights into the Mao era and China today. Her book is a true tour de force in contemporary Chinese studies.” - Paul Clark, author of Youth Culture in China: From Red Guards to Netizens

“Laurence Coderre's serious engagement with theories of materiality rooted in deeply historicized practices, relations, and things provides a politically powerful rethinking of Marxism, culture, and materiality. This superb book will be of immense interest not only to scholars in Chinese studies and Asian studies, but also to those in cultural studies, visual and material culture, sound studies, comparative socialism, Cold War studies, and Marxism.” - Tina Mai Chen, coeditor of The Material of World History

“Newborn Socialist Things is a tour de force: fascinating, inspiring, and challenging. It is a must-read for anyone interested in socialist (and postsocialist) China, its material culture, and its materiality.” - Jennifer Altehenger, Journal of Asian Studies

“Brilliant and pathbreaking.” - Michael Dutton, The China Quarterly

"Well written and engaging. . . . Newborn Socialist Things is an accomplished, meticulously researched, and fascinating book that will be of interest to scholars of all forms of cultural production in Mao-era China." - Amy Jane Barnes, Pacific Affairs

"Filled with enthralling historical accounts and illuminating theoretical insights, Laurence Coderre’s Newborn Socialist Things tackles urgent questions, challenges received wisdom, and opens up new pathways. . . . An erudite, vivacious, and surprising book that warrants close and repeated reading." - Jie Li, Modern Chinese Literature and Culture