Abstract: Inspired by the individualization theses developed by Ulrick Beck, Elisabeth Beck-Gernsheim and Zygmunt Bauman, a group of Chinese and Scandinavian scholars have come together during several workshops to explore the process of individualization and perceptions of the individual and individualism in the context of China. The project has resulted in a number of articles discussing the rise of the Chinese individual and the process of Chinese individualization from literary, legal, historical, sociological and anthropological perspectives. Some of the main findings of this project will be presented, but they will be discussed in relation to the special experiences of working in a group with people from very different academic backgrounds and at different stages in their career.

Mette Halskov Hansen is a professor of Chinese studies and Anthropology and currently serves as Dean of Research at the University of Oslo, Norway. She has previously done research in the fields of minority education and Han migrations to minority areas. Her current research projects mainly concern young people in rural areas and their relations to family, work place, schooling and the state. Most of her fieldwork has been carried out in Yunnan, Gansu and Fujian, and her published books include Lessons in being Chinese (Univ. of Washington Press 1999) and Frontier people: Han settlers in minority areas of China (UBC Press 2005).