The last 30 years in China have witnessed tremendous changes, primarily as a result of the shift in focus by the state from class struggle to economic development. China soon eliminated the threat of famine and the rationing of food in the first decade of the reform era and increased its GDP per capita by 41% between 1978 and 2006. The average annual GDP growth rate during the same period is about three times the world average. Between 1981 and 2004 China had the largest poverty reduction in human history. Along with the fast economic development, there has been great change to the ethos of Chinese society from sacrificing life for the revolutionary cause to valuing life itself. This change, which is perhaps among the most significant in the transformation of contemporary China, has enormous bearings on the question of what is an adequate life in China now.

Introduction China: Incomplete Governmentality Part I Min yi shi wei tian (People Regard Food as Top Priority)1 Feeding the Revolution 2 The Language of Food 3 The Truth about the Death Toll of the Great Leap Famine in Sichuan Part II The Politics and Morality of Death 4 The Death of a Detainee 5 The Life of Sino Sacer 6 Political Ambition, Life and Personal Success Part III Governing Life 7 The Memory of Barefoot Doctor System 8 Turning Points in China's AIDS Response 9 Governing Chinese Life Part IV From Living Being to Wellbeing 10 Citizen Satisfaction with Government Performance 11 Debating Women's Rights and Indigenous Rights in Hong Kong 12 Biological Citizenship and its Form Afterword

Everett Zhang, Arthur Kleinman, Weiming Tu