Neither laziness nor workaholism: The Protestant ethic and economic prosperity among young urban Christians in contemporary China

Abstract

Focused on the religious and economic practices of young Chinese Christian in Beijing, this article examines how Chinese Christians confront and resolve the post-socialist challenges in relation to hard-work culture, economic prosperity, and the neoliberal ethic of self-development. Young Chinese Christians in Beijing internalize the idea of a God-centered life as their life motto. This new outlook on life leads them to criticize the prevalence of workaholism, materialism, and success-seeking lifestyles, which they believe threatens Christian belief. At the same time, they develop an alternative view of work and wealth, which encourages them to glorify the Christian God through secular economic acts. As such, they reconfigure the logic of work, success, and prosperity through their own understandings of Christian faith. This article shows how Protestant Christianity provides opportunities for Christian believers to create new narratives and agential possibilities to negotiate their faiths and secular economic activities.