Deng's Generation

A sociological biography of the 1980s generation of young intellectuals in China. It applies Mannheim's generational perspective to first hand data to show how students and scholars in the 1980s were influenced by the reform context and policies of Deng Xiaoping's regime. The key trends in their thinking and behaviour within the spheres of education, leisure and politics are analysed leading to an account of their socio-economic situation and frustrated hopes in the run-up to the 1989 pro-democracy movement.