“The Government Next Door” is a great title for a book on neighbourhood politics in China. For some, the title might invoke associations of kind, unassuming politicians who are part of the community themselves. Others might feel trepidation: after all, resident committees, though legally social organizations, are extensions of an authoritarian regime. Judging by the subtlety of argument that permeates Tomba's book, this ambiguity is intentional. Indeed, one of the book's many qualities is the clarity with which it illustrates the “liquidity” of governance in urban China. Having been a resident in several urban neighbourhoods enables Luigi Tomba to illustrate his penetrating analysis with lucid case studies and examples.

For example, the reader learns about the politics behind the “social clustering” (p. 29) that produces two very different kinds of communities. In working-class neighbourhoods, the state is visible, distributes material benefits to the many unemployed, and co-opts social welfare recipients into its own ranks, turning dependents of the system into its enforcers. In middle-class neighbourhoods, the state is less visible, to the extent that “officials in charge of the family planning campaign are often not allowed in and must rely on the liaison person at the management company” (p. 52). Such phenomena and the presence of interest organizations such as homeowners' committees have prompted researchers, including the author of this review, to argue that the poor are governed more intensely than the rich. Tomba provides evidence to the contrary. One of the most prominent arguments in the book is that gated communities are not governed less, but differently. For example, core government tasks such as “facilitating social interactions, cultural and social activities, and security” are now subcontracted to management companies (p. 51).

Tomba also provides a fresh view of why China's urban society has become so segregated. The commonplace explanation of why the haves and the have-nots now live in different places (though both of them are “enclosed within walls and behind gates” [p. 43]) relies on market forces and the liberalization of the housing market. In contrast, Tomba argues that market forces explain only part of the puzzle, conscious social engineering the other: by favouring government officials and their relatives in the sale of subsidized housing, a middle-class loyal to the Party-state has been created. The biased privatization of government-owned housing was what motivated Tomba to study urban communities in the first place, and chapter three, which analyses this process, is my favourite in the book. It provides a gripping tale of how average public servants became homeowners, and how they multiplied their capital by renting out apartments and buying even more subsidized real estate. These families, Tomba argues in chapter five, are turned into models of China's future society: people who govern themselves, but love the Communist Party. His assertion that gated communities are purposefully planned as incubators for the well-off and well-behaved society that the CCP envisions for China is substantiated by fascinating evidence, including interviews, observations, and of course the thorough analysis of government documents.

Perhaps the most important argument, one that permeates the whole book, is that there is what Tomba calls a “consensus” between rulers and ruled in urban China, and that this is as true for middle-class communities as it is for working-class neighbourhoods. Here, the advantages of Tomba's approach, which he calls “political ethnography,” come to the fore. The “consensus” he finds is implicit, represented not in what people express, but how they express it. He shows that political discourses at the urban grassroots are as different as the communities he investigates, but that they have one thing in common: no matter if workers or white collar workers are involved in exchanges with the state, they all appropriate and even embrace the government's narratives. Although there might be contention about rights and visions – and indeed, a whole chapter is devoted to community-level conflicts – no-one questions the rules of the game. Consensus, as Tomba shows, is not imposed, but negotiated, and although it strengthens the regime, it does not equal support.

These are only several of the many interesting arguments, observations and interpretations that permeate this incredibly rich book. Even readers who are familiar with China's urban community will be guaranteed to find a great many gems – be it stories, observations or interpretations. The book is as suitable for experts as it is for beginners, and Tomba's often bold, often subtle and acute arguments will no doubt stimulate intensive discussions inside and outside the classroom. It provides food for thought for those who are attracted to Foucauldian notions of power, and is a must-read for anyone interested in China's urban governance, and state–society relations more generally.