Chinese Journal of Sociology

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Enlistment: Social Stratification and Individual Mobility of  Choice in the Institutional Transition

Wang Jianhua, Department of Sociology, School of Humanities and Social Science,Tsinghua University.   

  1. Wang Jianhua, Department of Sociology, School of Humanities and Social Science,Tsinghua University.
  • Online:2011-05-20 Published:2011-05-20
  • Contact: Wang Jianhua, Department of Sociology, School of Humanities and Social Science,Tsinghua University. E-mail:wjhmcg@163.com
  • About author:汪建华 清华大学人文社会科学学院社会学系(Author: Wang Jianhua, Department of Sociology, School of Humanities and Social Science,Tsinghua University)〓Email: wjhmcg@163.com 

Abstract:

The state’s institutional transition has not only brought about changes in the social stratification mechanism but also stimulated individuals to actively make choices for mobility. Therefore, the model of status attainment should not consider the stratification mechanism only and ignore the impact from the individual mobility of choice at the micro level. The analysis of the enlistment data from the CGSS2006 survey reported in this paper has supported this view. The reward of enlistment as a manifest of political loyalty has greatly decreased during the postreform era. The modes to attain soldier statuses in different periods embodied the combined effects of the changing social stratification mechanisms and the individual mobility of choice after examining the reward of the military service. When the military service could bring in a higher reward, the distribution of this resource showed a higher level of inequality across different strata. Lastly, in the status attainment during the military service, because of the effects of the power being shielded, the individually selected mobility changed the direction in status attainment to the opposite, i.e., it was the rural youth and the children of the manual workers that had a higher probability to become Communist Party members.

Key words: enlistment, institutional transition, selective mobility, social stratification