This book analyses parental anxieties about their children's healthcare issues in urban China, engaging with wider theoretical debates about modernity, risk and anxiety. It examines the broader social, cultural and historical contexts of parental anxiety by analysing a series of socio-economic changes and population policy changes in post-reform China that contextualise parental experiences. Drawing on Wilkinson's (2001) conceptualisation linking individual's risk consciousness to anxiety, this book analyses the situated risk experiences of parents' and grandparents', looking particularly into their engagement with various types of media. It studies the representations of health issues and health-related risks in a parenting magazine, popular newspapers, commercial advertising and new media, as well as parents' and grandparents' engagement with and response to these media representations. By investigating 'a culture of anxiety' among parents and grandparents in contemporary China, thisbook seeks to add to the scholarship of contemporary parenthood in a non- Western context.

First book to engage with the concept of risk and to address parental anxiety in China Interdisciplinary study of varying fields, including: sociology, media and communication, cultural studies, health science, and Chinese studies Extensive empirical work covering a five-year period

Autorentext

Qian (Sarah) Gong is a lecturer in the Department of Media and Communication at the University of Leicester, UK. Her recent research interests include health communication, risk, parenting and motherhood. She is currently the Principal investigator of a Wellcome Trust funded project Health communication for Chinese migrant mothers in Northern England.

Klappentext

'The 'culture of anxiety' that pervades contemporary societies to the detriment of everyday life and experience is nowhere more marked than among parents. This book makes an important and innovative contribution to the investigation of this matter, as it has developed in China. Taking health care and young children as its focus, it provides thought provoking discussion about the interplay between media (including new media) and the workings of risk consciousness, in an economy characterised by rapid change. The empirical work discussed in the book that explores the experience of parents and grandparents is of particular interest methodologically.'

- Dr Ellie Lee, School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research, University of Kent This book analyses parental anxieties about their children's healthcare issues in urban China, engaging with wider theoretical debates about modernity, risk and anxiety. It examines the broader social, cultural and historical contexts of parental anxiety by analysing a series of socio-economic changes and population policy changes in post-reform China that contextualise parental experiences. Drawing on Wilkinson's (2001) conceptualisation linking individual's risk consciousness to anxiety, this book analyses the situated risk experiences of parents' and grandparents', looking particularly into their engagement with various types of media. It studies the representations of health issues and health-related risks in a parenting magazine, popular newspapers, commercial advertising and new media, as well as parents' and grandparents' engagement with and response to these media representations. By investigating 'a culture of anxiety' among parents and grandparents in contemporary China, this book seeks to add to the scholarship of contemporary parenthood in a non-Western context.

Inhalt
Introduction.- 1.Risk and children's healthcare in modern China.- 2.Contextualising parental experiences in post-reform China.- 3.Feeding fears: News coverage of the infant formula scandal and health risk communication.- 4.Mediating nature, risk and scientific protection: Advertising discourse of healthcare products and parental reception.- 5.Managing anxiety: Parental engagement with new media and civic participation.- Conclusion: A culture of anxiety?