Mayfair Mei-Hui Yang

About the Author

Mayfair Mei-Hui Yang is a distinguished anthropologist and scholar whose work illuminates the intricate dynamics of social, political, and cultural life in contemporary China. Drawing from extensive fieldwork and interdisciplinary insights, she explores how everyday practices shape power structures and societal bonds in a rapidly transforming nation. Her seminal book, Gifts, Favors, and Banquets: The Art of Social Relationships in China (The Wilder House Series in Politics, History and Culture), masterfully dissects the role of reciprocity and ritual in Chinese interpersonal relations, challenging Western assumptions about gift economies and guanxi networks. Yang's research bridges anthropology, history, and political science, offering profound analyses of state-society interactions, religious revivals, and the cultural underpinnings of authoritarianism. A professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, she continues to influence global understandings of China's social fabric through her incisive scholarship and engaging narratives.