Table Of ContentThe Affective Medium and Ideal Person
in Pedagogies of 'Soft Skills'
in Contemporary China
Gil Hizi
A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements
for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
Department of Anthropology
School of Social and Political Sciences
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
The University of Sydney
2018
ii
Declaration
I hereby declare that this thesis has not been submitted in the past in substance for any
degree, that it is the result of my own independent research, and that all authorities and
sources consulted are acknowledged in the Bibliography.
Gil Hizi
iii
Abstract
In this dissertation I explore the role of affect in practices of self-improvement in
contemporary urban China. I conducted participant observation in workshops for young
adults in the city of Jinan, focusing on interpersonal ‘soft’ skills, such as ‘communication,’
‘emotional expression,’ and public speaking. These highly interactive workshops urged
participants to express themselves as emotional, assertive, inspirational, and above all –
autonomous – individuals. This ideal of personhood is inspired by state-promoted reforms in
the education system and the rise of psychotherapy across China, highlighting new moral
imperatives of self-reliance and emotional well-being in the expanding Chinese market
economy.
My analysis focuses on the discrepancy between participants’ ideals of self-improvement, as
practiced in workshops, and their wider social engagements. While participants conceived
of soft skills as capacities that could potentially be employed anywhere, they nevertheless
experienced and emphasised impediments to extending their practices outside workshops.
They saw their everyday social circles as prioritising hierarchical relations, social roles, and
financial stability, all suppressing the ideals of individual autonomy prominent in workshops.
Drawing on theories of affect, hope, and the concept of ‘heterotopia,’ I describe how
workshops dislocated participants from their existing social realities to produce momentary
experiences of self-overcoming. Through affectively intensive exercises, participants
identified with their ideal person, imagined themselves mastering social relations, and
envisioned a future society governed by the virtues of soft skills. I consider affect, in these
iv
practices, not as a means for subjects’ comprehensive self-transformations, but rather as an
experience that charges individuals with ephemeral optimism amidst socioeconomic
uncertainties. In contemporary market-driven China, I argue, such deployment of affect is
increasingly evident in educational activities, entertainment media, and state campaigns.
These practices respond to and reinforce an existing schism between the expansion of new
ideals of personhood and individuals’ limited capacities to realise them.
v
Acknowledgements
Over the past four years I have relied on the generous assistance of numerous, perhaps too
many, resourceful people. They did not only guide me but also expressed patience, faith,
and encouragement even when I did little to deserve such support. I am certain that they
are aware of my gratitude.
Before mentioning living individuals, I must express my gratitude for The University of
Sydney International Scholarship that sustained me for seven semesters, the Carlyle
Greenwell Bequest Completion Scholarship for additional support, and the Carlyle
Greenwell Bequest Postgraduate Research Fund for covering my fieldwork expenses.
Further assistance from my faculty’s Postgraduate Research Support Scheme helped me to
attend conferences in East Asia and the US.
Terry Woronov, my supervisor, had been a tremendous anchor of guidance. Her investment
of time and energy into my work kept me focused and in constant attention to the tasks
that still awaited me. I am thankful for her commitment to teaching and theory, for
encouraging me to communicate my message, as well as her sensitivity for every aspect of
PhD life. Her alertness and expressive support made the difference in some of the crucial
crossroads in my candidacy. Jadran Mimica, a fountain of knowledge and a thought-
stimulating interlocutor, was of help to me at critical points in my writing. I am one of
innumerable students who were deeply influenced by his non-compromising attitude
towards anthropological scholarship. Yasmine Musharbash, my second associate supervisor,
offered guidance that involved methodological discipline with a liberty (and imperative!) to
vi
bring out my own thinking and expressive style. Her approach was empirically and ethically
(I had to use one last vague ‘ethical’ for you Yasmine) invaluable.
The Department of Anthropology at The University of Sydney was a warm home for me as
well as an island of intellectual passion and collegiality in a changing academic world. I am
particularly thankful to Linda Connor, Neil Maclean, Ryan Schram, Ute Eickelkamp, Luis
Angosto-Ferrández, Gaynor Macdonald, Ase Ottosson, Robbie Peters, and Gillian Cowlishaw,
all whom accompanied me and my research with insights and curiosity. In the School of
Social and Political Sciences, I wish thank Tirta Swari, Priya Shaw, James Young, Danka
Ondriskova, and school chair Simon Tormey for offering me a smooth bureaucratic and
financial sail throughout my degree.
Academic assistance extended outside of The University of Sydney to scholars from around
Sydney and beyond who offered their time to discuss my work. This long list includes
Kalpana Ram, Zheng Yi, Megan Watkins, Tanya Jakimow, Chen Minglu, Martijn Konings,
Andrew Kipnis, Sun Wanning, Kori Allan, Ling Minhua, Huang Hsuan-ying, Min Zhang, Amalia
Sa’ar, Julia Lerner, and Inna Leykin. Andrew Kipnis, David Palmer, and Bonnie Urciuoli also
offered me important feedback as discussants in conference panels that I convened.
I am in debt to three university departments other than my current academic home, which
contributed immensely to my work. The Department of Anthropology at the Chinese
University of Hong Kong (CUHK), where I studied for one semester, was my official baptism
in anthropology. Teresa Kuan, Joseph Bosco, and Gordon Mathews were invaluable teachers
early in my research. The school of anthropology at Shandong University was my host during
my fieldwork. Brian Harmon and Chris Tan, my inviting scholars, were alert in solving
bureaucratic challenges and in welcoming me to discuss my research with their insightful
vii
students. The Department of Asian Studies in Jerusalem is where I began to see myself as a
researcher. I thank Rotem Geva and Orna Naftali for inviting me to return and present my
work in late 2016. Since I carelessly did not write my acknowledgements in my Master’s
Thesis, I take this opportunity to thank Orna for a dedicated and well-rounded supervision
that single-handedly made the difference in terms of my ability to apply for a PhD, as well as
to make the leap from area studies to anthropology.
Classmates and colleagues were another consistent source of support and joy. Carolina
Quesada’s endless advice, cooperation, and friendship made it feel like I had an extensive
‘cohort.’ Wang Bin was another colleague in Sydney with whom sharing my work was an
intellectual pleasure. Members of the Sydney China Studies Student Society and of a writing
group in Sydney were of additional help, as well as Tansel Guclu who accompanied me in
long writing marathons. My colleagues from CUHK remained my interlocutors long after we
departed: Rao Yichen, Fei Zhang, Elena Nichini, Allie Kwong, Katherine Cheung, Lynn Sun,
and Ting Deng. Additional colleagues-friends who read and commented on my work are Sun
Shengwei, Anir Altan, Ang Gui, Rhys Herden, Zhang Kai, Phil Le Couilliard, and Portia Spinks.
The latter also proofread my entire dissertation.
From colleagues to non-academic cornerstones. My friends, particularly my old friends from
home, remained a source of comfort and support, while my family members always
encouraged me along my path. My parents Raya and Amnon extended their support from
Tel-Aviv to a visit to Jinan, offering the most palpable and participatory interest in my
fieldwork, which also extended to every stage of my candidacy. Like them, my spouse Zeina
reminded me time and again the priority of my project. Her actions expressed this far more
strongly than any words could.
viii
My ‘informants’ and friends in Jinan (two inseparable categories of course) have opened
their doors to me unconditionally. If the Arabic word ‘jinan’ – ‘paradises’ – could somehow
merge with the Chinese name of the city (‘south of River Ji’), then it would surely reflect
people before anything else in the scenery. I will not mention names of informants, and
limit my thanks to Yang Liwei, Jiang Bin, and Ye Shaoyi for their invincible friendship and
help. Zhao Wen and Liu Yuexiu’s headaches of assisting me to transcribe fieldwork
recordings deserve both my thanks, and my apologies.
After acknowledging those who assisted me in the language of scholarship and those who
expressed the language of care, my final mention goes to those who guided me in the
language of Mandarin Chinese, an elemental and non-trivial aspect of my work. Special
thanks for my teachers Zhang Li and Noga Zhang-Shahar from Tel-Aviv University, Lin Qian
from Jerusalem, teacher Wei from the Beijing Language and Culture University, Bi Lei from
Shandong Normal University and my enduring tutor Tao Lumin. Through their teaching, I
hope that I have conveyed the words, thoughts, and concerns of my informants with
satisfactory precision.
ix
Table of Contents
Declaration ................................................................................................................................. iii
Abstract ...................................................................................................................................... iv
Acknowledgements..................................................................................................................... vi
Table of Tables .......................................................................................................................... xiii
Table of Figures ........................................................................................................................ xiii
Table of Charts .......................................................................................................................... xiii
Chapter 1 - Introduction ............................................................................................................... 1
Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 1
Urban field sites: workshops for soft skills ......................................................................................... 3
Champion Training .......................................................................................................................... 3
Super Speakers ................................................................................................................................ 6
Heart’s Secret .................................................................................................................................. 8
Background – New conceptions of the ‘person’ in contemporary China ......................................... 12
Economic reforms and the morality of the person in China ......................................................... 12
Studies of the New Person in Contemporary China ..................................................................... 15
Research problem ......................................................................................................................... 18
Theoretical framework ..................................................................................................................... 20
Soft skills in the market economy ................................................................................................. 20
Intersubjective affect .................................................................................................................... 24
Affect and capitalism .................................................................................................................... 26
Affect and governance .................................................................................................................. 29
Moral heterotopias of self-improvement ..................................................................................... 32
The ideal person of soft skills and personhood in China .............................................................. 34
Hope and temporality in the practice of soft skills ....................................................................... 35
Paradoxes, affect, modernity ........................................................................................................ 38
Setting and methods ......................................................................................................................... 39
Jinan – an ‘improving’ city............................................................................................................. 39
Methods ........................................................................................................................................ 42
Chapters Outline ............................................................................................................................... 48
Chapter 2 - Zheng Nengliang and Pedagogies of Affect ............................................................... 50
Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 50
The rise of zheng nengliang .............................................................................................................. 54
x
