This thesis studies the construction of social identity and status among ceramic craftsmen in Shiwan Township of Foshan City, Guangdong Province China since late Qing. It attempts to explore various social mechanisms, capitals and social forces which the ceramic craftsmen effectively utilized to construct their identity and status....[ Read more ]

This thesis studies the construction of social identity and status among ceramic craftsmen in Shiwan Township of Foshan City, Guangdong Province China since late Qing. It attempts to explore various social mechanisms, capitals and social forces which the ceramic craftsmen effectively utilized to construct their identity and status.

During the Late Qing and the Republican period, the craftsmen who produced pottery figures, animals and toys established their fame and identity through patronage and the public exhibitions. Nevertheless, compared with other ceramic craftsmen, this social group was discriminated by the local people as "Gongzi Lao" or craftsmen who know only to produce small figurines. After 1949 when the new Government introduced a new status-assessing mechanism, these craftsmen were defined by the state with new hierarchical categories like "Folk Artists" and "Master of Crafts and Arts". After 1980s when the government allowed private enterprises, some ceramic craftsmen strode away from the state system. Market became an alternative mechanism for these ceramic craftsmen to establish their "Artist" identity. In other words, establishment of social identity and status is closely related to the craftsmen's response to the changing macro-environment. This research further argued that state regulation and market economy could not entirely replace traditional social relation and network whlch were essential resources for identity and status building before 1949.