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Class in Contemporary China
Choice Outstanding Academic Title for 2015
More than three decades of economic growth have led to significant social change in the People�s Republic of China. This timely book examines the emerging structures of class and social stratification: how they are interpreted and managed by the Chinese Communist Party, and how they are understood and lived by people themselves.
David Goodman details the emergence of a dominant class based on political power and wealth that has emerged from the institutions of the Party-state; a well-established middle class that is closely associated with the Party-state and a not-so-well-established entrepreneurial middle class; and several different subordinate classes in both the rural and urban areas. In doing so, he considers several critical issues: the extent to which the social basis of the Chinese political system has changed and the likely consequences; the impact of change on the old working class that was the socio-political mainstay of state socialism before the 1980s; the extent to which the migrant workers on whom much of the economic power of the PRC since the early 1980s has been based are becoming a new working class; and the consequences of China�s growing middle class, especially for politics.
The result is an invaluable guide for students and non-specialists interested in the contours of ongoing social change in China.
More than three decades of economic growth have led to significant social change in the People�s Republic of China. This timely book examines the emerging structures of class and social stratification: how they are interpreted and managed by the Chinese Communist Party, and how they are understood and lived by people themselves.
David Goodman details the emergence of a dominant class based on political power and wealth that has emerged from the institutions of the Party-state; a well-established middle class that is closely associated with the Party-state and a not-so-well-established entrepreneurial middle class; and several different subordinate classes in both the rural and urban areas. In doing so, he considers several critical issues: the extent to which the social basis of the Chinese political system has changed and the likely consequences; the impact of change on the old working class that was the socio-political mainstay of state socialism before the 1980s; the extent to which the migrant workers on whom much of the economic power of the PRC since the early 1980s has been based are becoming a new working class; and the consequences of China�s growing middle class, especially for politics.
The result is an invaluable guide for students and non-specialists interested in the contours of ongoing social change in China.
- GenresChina
272 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2014
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About the author
David S.G. Goodman
36 books1 followerDavid Stephen Gordon Goodman is Director of the China Studies Centre, University of Sydney, where he is also Emeritus Professor of Chinese Politics in the Department of Government and International Relations. He is also Emeritus Professor in the Department of China Studies at Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University in Suzhou, China; and Emeritus Professor in the Australia-China Relations Institute at the University of Technology, Sydney. Prof Goodman is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 10, 2021
Helpful to understand how the idea of class developed in China and what that means for today's politics.
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September 21, 2015305.50951 G6532 2014
January 2, 2017
Excellent
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews