Young people in China are fangirling over a professor who gets their anxiety
Summary
Professor Biao Xiang, a Chinese anthropologist, has become popular among young people in China for discussing their anxiety about the future in a rapidly changing society. He speaks about the pressures they face, such as job competition and social expectations, and encourages finding meaning and connection beyond just approval from systems like exams and jobs.Key Facts
- Biao Xiang is a 54-year-old anthropologist who speaks about anxiety and social pressures faced by young Chinese people.
- His talks attract large audiences, including one event in Singapore with about 500 attendees, mostly Chinese diaspora.
- He served as director at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Germany and studies social change in China and Asia.
- Xiang explains that young people in China feel uncertain despite the country’s rapid economic and social growth.
- He highlights how young people seek approval from competitive systems, which can harm their self-worth.
- Xiang uses terms like "floating" to describe people struggling just to survive and "the nearby" to explain how people feel disconnected from their immediate environment.
- His ideas resonate because the issues he discusses are often difficult to talk about publicly in China due to political sensitivity and censorship.
- China’s leader Xi Jinping has recognized similar social tensions, calling it a main contradiction between people's hopes and development gaps.
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