Chinese Women and Rural Development: Sixty Years of Change in Lu Village, Yunnan

I have used this book in an undergraduate anthropology course titled, "Gender, Class, Race-ethnicity and Development." Most students were juniors or seniors, but knew little or nothing about China. The book was very favorably received. Students were particularly interested in the chapters on footbinding and shamanism, not only because of their intrinsic interest, but especially because of the way that Bossen links these practices to longterm economic processes. They also felt that Bossen's transparency with regard to the complex steps she took to build her analysis gave them precious insight into social science methodologies. I recommend this book highly, not only for scholars of Asia and China or of women's and rural studies, but also for coursework that focuses more generally on questions about inequality and social change.