Drawing on a wide variety of Chinese-language publications and in-depth interviews with high-school students, Mobilising China's One-Child Generation provides systematic evidence of the spread of martial logic and techniques into Chinese schools. The book explores how China has implemented Patriotic Education and National Defence Education programmes to foster love for the nation and the Party-state, mobilise the population to fight modern wars in the information age, and encourage youth to join the army. It studies how these programmes present the tropes of war and the military to youth, and how they are related to shifting constructions of gender and the national collectivity. It also documents students' varied perceptions and notably contestations of this militarised ethos, complicating our understanding of popular nationalism and militarisation processes in this authoritarian global power.Drawing on a wide variety of Chinese-language publications and in-depth interviews with high-school students, Mobilising China's One-Child Generation provides systematic evidence of the spread of martial logic and techniques into Chinese schools. The book explores how China has implemented Patriotic Education and National Defence Education programmes to foster love for the nation and the Party-state, mobilise the population to fight modern wars in the information age, and encourage youth to join the army. It studies how these programmes present the tropes of war and the military to youth, and how they are related to shifting constructions of gender and the national collectivity. It also documents students' varied perceptions–and notably contestations–of this militarised ethos, complicating our understanding of popular nationalism and militarisation processes in this authoritarian global power.

"Orna Naftali’s highly readable book is overall a meaningful addition to the debates about the militarization of Chinese society. It is of great relevance to anyone interested in Chinese youth, education, and military-society relations more broadly." - The China Quarterly

"An important contribution to the study of nationalism, education and militarisation in contemporary China. Naftali’s research provides a comprehensive and well-documented account of the ways in which the state attempts to shape young people’s conceptions of war and military service, while recognising the role of young people in negotiating these narratives. Through a combination of fieldwork and textual analysis, it paints a dynamic picture of the ideological forces shaping China’s younger generations." - Europe-Asia Studies

"Naftali presents research informed by geographical and socio-economic breadth, relevant to students and scholars of Chinese area studies and critical military studies alike. By asking students how they themselves link their views of conflict to the messaging they received at school and through popular culture, Naftali offers a nuanced addition to the literature on Chinese state nationalism under Xi Jinping and the efficacy of ideological instruction in contemporary China and beyond." - Asian Affairs