Streetlife China

'Dutton describes this wonderful book as 'a treasure box of possibilities. Possibilities both for Chinese society and for those of us in the business of making sense of it.' You never know what you will come across in its pages … It is endlessly interesting.' The Guardian
'Michael Dutton is in the option of this reviewer the most gifted China analyst working today with poststructuralist methods and concepts.' Arif Kirlik, Duke University
'Streetlife China is a well-researched and intelligent look at some of the losers of economic reform in China … [It] provides a wealth of information on the darker side of the Chinese economic miracle, information available elsewhere in English. This is an aspect of China that, I suspect, will continue to grow in political significance and news worthiness during the next few years.' The Australian
'Dutton has produced a book rippling with fascinating , sometimes bizarre, detail. It is yet another China. He puts it succinctly when he says it is 'a story that begins in a back street and never really leaves it'.' Panorama, Canberra Times
'As always, there are two Chinas: the official and the unofficial. and while experts dissect every word that Beijing's bosses say, the ordinary Chinese on the street are doing what they've always done: going about the struggle of daily life, whether selling Mao badges or posters (regaining popularity), finding a life partner, or - for under one percent of the population, 'an awful lot of people' - resorting to crime. Dutton's text is mesmeric in weaving these diverse backstreet threads into mainstream visions.' The Weekend Australian