Social trust and luxury seafood banquets in contemporary Beijing

Bibliographic Data

ID2992844
AuthorsM Fabinyi (0000-0001-5293-4081, James Cook University, corresponding author), Neng Liu (Peking University)
Year2014
Volume13
Issue2
Pages92-105
Publication date2014-07-03
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAsian Anthropology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1683-478X • E-ISSN: 2168-4227
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/1683478x.2014.945689
OpenAlexW2002123110
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited30

China is marked by rising levels of consumption, but also high levels of social distrust. This paper offers an empirical study of luxury seafood consumption in banquets in Beijing as a way of understanding perceptions of and responses to a lack of trust in abstract social institutions in Chinese society. We focus on the chronic distrust Chinese people have in the food system and the economic system. Governance of the food system is marked by failures related to food safety and authenticity, while the formal institutions of the economic system are insufficient to provide security in professional contexts. Because people do not have social trust in the rationality and effectiveness of such abstract institutions, they are compelled to generate personal trust. Luxury seafood consumption in banquets is an important component of this process of generating personal trust

Beijing · Business · China · Corporate governance · Distrust · Perception · Political science · Public relations · Rationality · Social science · Sociology · China's Socioeconomic Reforms and Governance · Chinese history and philosophy · Law · Psychology · Finance · Marketing

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub