SEAA Reads

 The inaugural SEAA Reads session will feature Sylvia M. Lindtner, Prototype Nation: China and the Contested Promise of Innovation (Princeton University Press, 2020). This book was the 2021 finalist for the Francis L. K. Hsu book prize. Quoting the award citation at https://seaa.americananthro.org/awards/past-seaa-awards/ The book is centered on the city of Shenzhen’s maker culture. This is a form of do-it-yourself (or DIY) culture involving the creation or retooling of electronic technology, often initially pursued as a hobby but also sometimes pursued into the realms of entrepreneurial activity, venture capitalism and mass production. Professor Lindtner explores the state’s moves to co-opt the creative and experimental ethos of maker culture in its efforts to reimagine China as a place not only of fakes and knockoff products, but also as a principal site in the global imagination of technological innovation, one that both inspires and seeks to rival America’s Silicon Va...