In his new book Chinese Millenials:
The Want Generation, author
Eric Fish draws on eight years of
experience teaching and writing
in Mainland China. He tells Time Out how the
country’s oft misunderstood
millennial generation are
challenging the status quo.
China is keen on labelling its
youth by the decade in
which they were born,
post-’80s, post-’90s
generation etc. Is
there really that much
difference between them?
I’d say so. The generation
labels have actually
become even narrower in
some media circles (i.e. post-
’85s, post-’90s, post-
’95s). Just compare
the circumstances
they grew up
in. Per capita
GDP nearly
tripled between
1990 and
2000. Internet
penetration
went from less than 2 percent of the
population in 2000 to 34 percent in
2010 to almost 50 percent today.
Just within these ten-year spans,
people’s lifestyles and access
to information changed pretty
radically.
How do Chinese millennials differ
from those in the West?
The big difference I’d say is in
the depth and breadth of the
challenges they’re facing.
Millennials in the West
are facing big problems
like wealth inequality,
devaluing college degrees,
unemployment, highhousing
costs, lack of
direction, etc. Chinese
millennials have the
same issues,
only they’re
much more
serious and
widespread.
At the same
time, China’s
millennials
have very
unique social
issues to confront, like the gender
imbalance, hukou residency system,
and gaokao college entrance exam.
Politically, China’s millennials
overall still seem to be much more
disengaged than their Western
counterparts, but that appears to be
changing rather quickly.
You’ve said that China’s political
situation has regressed during the
time you’ve been here. Why do you
think that is?
I think part of it is precisely
because young people appear
to be taking a greater interest in
social, environmental, and political
issues. During the last few years
of Hu Jintao’s presidency, you had
all these environmental street
protests, online campaigns, social
activism, and, most notably I
thought, the Southern Weekend
protests in January 2013. This
certainly highlighted the trend
toward a more vocal and demanding
population, largely led by less-andless
inhibited youth.
How big a following do activist icons like Li Maizi have in China?
Li Maizi and the ‘Feminist Five’
seemed to have had a significant
and growing following, albeit still
relatively small. But by arresting
them, authorities pretty efficiently
highlighted the need for such
activists and prompted scores to
rally around their cause. So I think
in this regard, activists are shifting
from being seen as weirdos to being
admired.
If readers should take away one
thought from the book, what should
that be?
Contrary to the stereotypes of a
spoiled ‘little emperor’ generation,
there are a lot of things young
Chinese are really struggling with
today, and many of these things
are poised to become worse in the
years ahead. Young Chinese have
very diverse and high expectations,
and are becoming much more willing
to speak up, assert their interests,
and challenge the status quo. In
the coming years, this combination
could become very interesting.
China's Millenials is available now from Amazon.com from 173RMB.
