Biao Xiang, a social anthropologist from China, is director at the Max Planck Institute for Ethnological Research. He admires the will to innovate in German society and sees hurdles for young Chinese academics when starting their careers.
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00:00 My name is Zhang Biao. I was born in 1972 in Wenzhou, China.
00:07 Becoming a scholar was almost inevitable for me, given the cultural fever in 1980s China.
00:17 A lot of western philosophies were introduced at the time. As a high school student, I was
00:23 interested in these topics.
00:30 I chose to work in sociology and anthropology because they don't approach things from the
00:38 viewpoint of big ideas. They focus on concrete behaviours. I came to the Max Planck Institute
00:45 with a very important goal. My motto was "Don't ask what we can do for anthropology, ask what
00:52 anthropology can do for us, for our world today."
00:59 My impression of German society comes mainly from my work. What impresses me most is the
01:20 desire to innovate. There's a drive to experiment, even if we might fail.
01:27 In Germany, public interest in academic and social issues is greater than elsewhere. In
01:42 other words, the German public likes to debate, to argue.
01:50 I'm a complete stranger here, but German society is still interested in what I have to say.
01:57 When I have a different opinion, they're interested in what I have to say. I appreciate that a
02:08 lot and am grateful for that. This German attitude gives me the sense that our research
02:14 has public value.
02:17 I think that when you compare young people in China to young people in other countries
02:24 like Germany, they have a lot in common, especially when it comes to how they perceive other people
02:34 and what they perceive as stressful.
02:45 But I do feel that China is not an easy place, especially for young people, especially for
02:52 new university graduates who are entering society at a time when the economy is in decline
02:59 and when China's relationship with the world has become more complicated.
03:10 Young people in China thought they had relatively clear answers and goals. They don't believe
03:15 that anymore. They might not feel insecure as such, but they're constantly in a situation
03:21 where they're forced to compete. They feel that they have to work hard, and if they don't,
03:28 they won't succeed. But even with hard work, success isn't always in reach. So they have
03:36 to work even harder. And that's where this sense of precariousness comes in. One of the
03:42 biggest problems facing China is the lack of social resilience in grass-roots society.
03:48 How can the basic ethics of our daily life, our human dignity, mutual care for one another,
03:54 be protected and preserved, especially in the face of all the shocks and disruptions
03:58 China is facing today?
04:06 I believe it's time to move beyond the perspective of traditional anthropology as a discipline.
04:12 The questions they ask are still good and useful, but we need to pay more attention
04:16 to the situation of young people today. That would also help anthropology become more relevant
04:21 and to bring a fresh perspective into play.
04:28 [music]