Consuming ‘authenticity’? Reinterpreting the ‘new middle class’ in China through the lens of retailing changes

Liu Cao

Urban Studies, 2023, vol. 60, issue 3, 501-518

Abstract: If gentrification is occurring globally, we must understand the uneven intervention of globalisation in the production of a (global) gentrifier class. This paper adopts a comparative perspective to investigate the ‘new middle class’ within China’s urban context. Through the critical examination of subtle retailing changes, it discusses how recent place-making strategies have fabricated the aura of ‘authenticity’ built upon the history of traditional residential neighbourhoods, attracting gentrifiers, whose consumption practices have transformed the retail space of a gentrified historic neighbourhood. Using Nanjing as a case study by employing qualitative research methods, this study shows that the Chinese new middle classes have yearned for modern and elitist lifestyles, with a preference for consuming Western-style goods to manifest their distinctive tastes and social status. This paper’s research findings propose the concept of Xiaozi consumption, a specific term that challenges Western-developed concepts of ‘consuming authenticity’ by highlighting the planetary indigeneity of gentrification in the Global South.

Keywords: authenticity; gentrification; globalisation; retailing changes; Xiaozi consumption; 真实性; 绅士化; å…¨ç ƒåŒ–; é›¶å”®å ˜é ©; å° èµ„æ¶ˆè´¹ (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:60:y:2023:i:3:p:501-518

DOI: 10.1177/00420980221107318

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