ABSTRACT
Periodically it is useful to take stock of the state of a scholarly fi eld and profession. While this volume does not claim to be comprehensive in its scope or defi nitive in its assessments, it nonetheless offers a useful window into the state of research and publication on contemporary China in Europe, Japan, and the United States. On balance, the assessments contained in this volume attest to the fact that the fi eld is doing a good job of keeping up with and interpreting fast-changing developments in China, and that the international “state of the fi eld” can be judged to be healthy and growing. While this overall judgment applies, the state of the fi eld in these different nations and regions is uneven.
