Professor Li Zhang's book titled: Anxious China Published in Chinese Translation
Exploring psychotherapy, anxiety, and social transformation in contemporary China
Professor Li Zhang's book titled: Anxious China Published in Chinese Translation
UC Davis Anthropology Professor Li Zhang's book, Anxious China: Inner Revolution and Politics of Psychotherapy, was published in Chinese in August 2026.
The Chinese translation of Anxious China: Inner Revolution and Politics of Psychotherapy (University of California Press) was published in China in August 2026 under the title 焦虑者的世界. Following its publication, Zhang was interviewed by several major Chinese news outlets.
The book explores how China's rapid economic transformation has reshaped not only social structures but also individuals' emotional and psychological lives. Drawing on ethnographic research, Zhang examines the growing interest in Western-style psychotherapy among China's urban middle class and the broader social changes accompanying this shift.
Through the concept of an "inner revolution," the book considers how therapeutic practices are transforming understandings of selfhood, family relationships, social life, and governance in contemporary China.