Negotiating SHI-FEI and shifei: Pursuing a Moralist Self in China's Community-Based Addiction Treatment Programs

Based on 16 months of fieldwork conducted at drug addiction treatment facilities in Yunnan, Southwest China, this article examines how Chinese drug users invent moralist selves during the frequent occurrences of shifei incidents. Shìfēi, meaning literally right/wrong, is a crucial concept in Chinese society with two contradictory meanings: (1) moral norms/judgment that ought to be discerned and followed (SHI-FEI); (2) "troubles" or "quarrels" that are often morally undesirable (shifei). By delving into a typical incident of shifei, this article analyzes the logic, motivation, and interpretations of the drug users and addiction treatment facility staff who are involved in the local moral world. It argues that for drug users, the relationship between SHI-FEI and shifei is not oppositional, as often assumed. Instead, both are valuable moral experiences and useful cultural means in response to users' moral demands and tensions. Negotiating SHI-FEI and shifei enables an ambiguous space in which drug users seek, claim, and practice their moralist selves. This article also argues that under various sociopolitical and moral constraints, drug users' moral selves are characterized by an inward focus on claims of morality and legitimacy. This inward focus reflects a process of moral involution. This study contributes to understandings of moral self-making in stigmatized situations.