ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that the third wave, in the early 1990s, differed in nature from the first two, in the 1980s, in that it carried the basic features of consumerism and marked the outbreak of a consumer revolution in urban China. It concerns the main consequences and implications of the consumer revolution and analyzes the initial triumph of consumerism in relation to the formation of social classes, the change of dominant ideology, the creation of social space, the awareness of individual rights, and post–1989 politics in China. The panic purchasing in 1988 in a way contributed to the popular protest movement in 1989, and the June 4 incident ended the second wave of mass consumption. The most important aspect of consumerism in the 1990s was the rise of a consumer protection movement. In addition to seeking help from government agencies and the semiofficial China Consumers Association, some people have begun to set up voluntary organizations to promote consumer protection.
