Class in Contemporary China
China Today (Series Nr. 1)
1. Edition August 2014
272 Pages, Softcover
Wiley & Sons Ltd
Short Description
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.
Maps viii
Chronology x
Preface xiii
Abbreviations, Measures and Note on Chinese Names and Transliteration xvi
1 Introduction: Understanding Class in China 1
Understanding China and class 5
Revolutionary class analysis 9
The bourgeoisie within the Party 17
Class by ideology; class by occupation 22
Analysing class in contemporary China 28
2 Social Stratification under Reform 34
Markers of change 35
Rural-urban relations 40
Reform and inequality 45
Stratification and class 54
The emergent class structure 58
3 The Dominant Class 64
The political elite 67
The economic elite 74
Power and wealth 82
4 The Middle Classes 92
Considering the middle class 94
Size and wealth 100
The aspirational middle class 109
The intermediate middle classes 116
5 The Subordinate Classes 122
Public-sector workers 128
Workers in the non-public sector 135
Peasants 143
6 The Political Economy of Change 149
Market transition 149
Democratization 153
A new working class 160
Peasant activism 166
Inequality and regime legitimacy 172
7 Conclusion: Inequality and Class 177
Inequality 181
Class 186
Bibliography 191
Index 221
LSE Review of Books
"Goodman has an eagle eye for what is crucial in China's development. His analysis of the important but under-appreciated role of class and class analysis in modern China should be mandatory reading. The book provides a vital contribution to our understanding of continuity and change in China."
Anthony Saich, Harvard Kennedy School
"Class is at the basis of the Chinese Communist revolution, yet today's China is a world away from the class-based politics of the Mao era. In this highly readable and meticulously researched book, David Goodman gives readers a powerful account of what precisely class means in today's China and why it matters. From the emergent middle class to the new classes that make up China's working population, the analysis gives detail that reveals just how complex class has become. The book brings together Goodman's interdisciplinary skills as a historian and political scientist, and it draws from the latest cutting-edge data from within China itself. On a crucial issue shaping China in the twenty-first century, this is a must-read book."
Rana Mitter, University China Centre, University of Oxford
