Premium
Mediated Agency and Funeral Insurance in China
Author(s) -
Kipnis Andrew B.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
polar: political and legal anthropology review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.529
H-Index - 27
eISSN - 1555-2934
pISSN - 1081-6976
DOI - 10.1111/plar.12262
Subject(s) - vision , agency (philosophy) , work (physics) , key person insurance , china , insurance law , insurance policy , general insurance , business , sociology , political science , actuarial science , law , social science , anthropology , mechanical engineering , engineering
This article examines attempts to set up a market for funerary insurance in China. Anthropologists and sociologists analyzing the insurance industry often emphasize the cultural aspects of the business, suggesting that “visions” or “imaginaries” of what insurance is and how insurance should work play a guiding role in other aspects of the business. In the case of funerary insurance in China, however, the imaginary of how the insurance should work evolved very rapidly in response to other factors. While not denying the role of cultural imaginaries in the insurance business, this article argues for a more mediated vision of the agency of these imaginaries.