The moving boundaries of social heat: gambling in rural China

Abstract

Original citation:Steinmüller, Hans (2011) The moving boundaries of social heat: gambling in rural China.

Gambling in China: socio‐historical evolution and current challenges

“…Since the 1990s, the prevalence of illegal and excessive money wagering in mainland China has risen to an alarming level [3,5,24,25]. The problems are not limited to urban cities [17,19,26,27]; in a village in Anhui province, the gambling prevalence was approximately 60% and 6% of the villagers gambled on a daily basis [27]. Gambling participation and addiction among youths is another concern [28,29].…”

“…Furthermore, most of these studies are based on lottery buyers [20,21,40] or qualitative data [17,19,25,29]. The national prevalence of gambling remains unknown, and few studies have investigated incidences or associated factors.…”

“…In Chinese culture, 'gaming' has very important social functions [17,18]. Playing card games and mahjong is a vital part of celebrations such as during a wedding reception.…”

“…Even children are allowed to bet on games with their adult family members during Spring Festival. It is seen as an opportunity for building social connections [17,19]. The majority of the mainland lottery buyers reported charity, amusement or even long-term hobby as motivations behind their lottery purchases [20,21].…”

Introduction: Gambling as Analytic in Melanesia

“…These are important aspects of social analyses so long as they endure ethnographically, and the status quo seems unlikely to change rapidly now that this language has become entrenched in punters' and industry's perceptions of themselves (Reith ; Schüll ). This idea of gambling as irresponsible uncertainty has indeed come to be seen as a metaphor for the current global order, encapsulated in the phrase ‘casino capitalism’ (Comaroff and Comaroff ; but see Cassidy ; Steinmüller ). However, when it comes to histories and anthropologies of gambling, we must be wary of unreflectively concentrating on what might appear at first glance to be the growth and progressive sophistication of gambling against a background of ‘innate’ human risk‐taking in a dangerous ‘winners and losers’ world (e.g., Schwartz ).…”