PUB - Publikationen an der Universität Bielefeld

This chapter discusses the relevance of the concept of luohou (lagging behind) in the attempts by Chinese youth to self-improve and for the appellation of self-improvement by state discourse. It argues that the idea that some subjects lag behind others informs a specific post-colonial governmentality based on a notion of “colonial temporality” that classifies people and places into different temporal positions in order to create a sense of urgency and hope to catch up to the advanced Other. It thus produces destabilized subjectivities that are urged to constantly self-improve and constantly re-evaluate their own modernity. From the May Fourth Movement to the Reform era, this idea informed various attempts to self-improve of individuals, as well as state-led social engineering aimed to modernize the Chinese people.