Fake Stuff ─ China and the Rise of Counterfeit Goods

"The Anthropology of Stuff" is part of a new Series dedicated to innovative, unconventional ways to connect undergraduate students and their lived concerns about our social world to the power of social science ideas and evidence. Our goal with the project is to help spark social science imaginations and in doing so, new avenues for meaningful thought and action. Each "Stuff" title is a short (100 page) "mini text" illuminating for students the network of people and activities that create their material world.
Yi-Chieh Lin reveals how the entrepreneurial energy of emerging markets, such as China, includes the opportunity to profit from fake stuff, that is counterfeit goods that rely on our fascination with brand names. Students will discover how the names and logos embroidered and printed on their own clothes carry their own price tag above and beyond the use value of the products themselves. The book provides a wonderful introduction for students to global markets and their role in determining how they function.

Yi-Chieh Jessica Lin holds a Ph.D. degree in Anthropology from Harvard University. She is Assistant Professor of General Education at the National Chung-Hsing University, Taiwan. She has published short stories and essays in various Chinese newspapers since 1994. She worked as a television reporter for China Television Company in the past and produced documentaries on post-earthquake reconstructions.

1. Introduction 2. The Structure of a Counterfeit Industry 3. The Market of Counterfeit Goods 4. Consuming Counterfeit Goods 5. Counterfeit Culture as Protest and Rebellion 6. Conclusion