THESIS
2008
x, 171 p. : ill. ; 30 cm
Abstract
The dissertation aims to bring social classes back into the center of the research on Chinese social stratification and inequality in its transition to market capitalism. Drawing from the neo-Marxian class theory on the ownership of three types of assets, it develops a Chinese class schema, taking into account the household registration (hukou) institution, the work unit (danwei) institution, and the cadre institution, which are respectively associated with the ownership of labor power, organizational assets, and skills or authority. Based on the national survey data, the dissertation empirically demonstrates the superiority of such a class schema to other alternatives in fitting in with the reality in China....[
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The dissertation aims to bring social classes back into the center of the research on Chinese social stratification and inequality in its transition to market capitalism. Drawing from the neo-Marxian class theory on the ownership of three types of assets, it develops a Chinese class schema, taking into account the household registration (hukou) institution, the work unit (danwei) institution, and the cadre institution, which are respectively associated with the ownership of labor power, organizational assets, and skills or authority. Based on the national survey data, the dissertation empirically demonstrates the superiority of such a class schema to other alternatives in fitting in with the reality in China.
With the new class schema, the dissertation examines the transformation of the class structure in China from the Maoist era to the present; the trends in class inequality, class consciousness and politics of emerging classes. Analyses of survey data collected in 1996, 2003, and 2005 from China have shown the proletarianization of the class structure, the polarization of class inequality, and the embryonic development of class consciousness. A class analysis of China not only contributes to the understanding of the continuity and changes in the course of China’s transition to market capitalism but also enriches the modern class theory.
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