2013 Vol.33

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Possession, Operation, and Governance as Three Conceptual Dimensions of Town and Township Enterprises: An Attempt Back to the Classical Social Sciences QU Jingdong Chinese Journal of Sociology    2013, 33 (1): 1-37.   Abstract （2228）      PDF（pc） （865KB）（764）       Knowledge map    Save Through the review of the representative sociological studies on ownership of town and township enterprises, this article attempts to use three classical theoretical concepts of possession, operation, and governance to analyze the formative and the operational mechanisms of town and township enterprises. In the aspect of possession, these enterprises compromise different elements of public, common and private ownerships. In the aspect of operation, they utilize land contracts, enterprise contracts and the financial responsibility system in the institutional context of the twotrack regime. In the aspect of governance, they fuse different mechanisms of the institutional, knowledge, and mores dimensions together, and free the traditional familial, kinship linkage, and customary resources for reform and creativity in the practice. As key position of social process of multiple elements and moments, town and township enterprises not only provide opportunities for institutional innovations, but also embody the institutional spirit of reform period, which combines tradition, regime, and new market mechanism, and provides an enriched process of social development. This framework returning on the classical social theories will be conductive to reflection on the other phenomenon of organizational and institutional change in social and economical reform. Reference | Related Articles | Metrics | Comments（0）

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Methodology and the Lifeworld：Revisit the Discussion on Schutz’s Intersubjectivity Theory SUN Feiyu Chinese Journal of Sociology    2013, 33 (1): 38-74.   Abstract （2483）      PDF（pc） （1021KB）（585）       Knowledge map    Save Based on Husserl’s phenomenology and Bergson’s philosophy of consciousness, Alfred Schutz, from an analysis of the consciousness behind individual actions, started theory building based on Weber’s social scientific conceptual system according to its key concept of “meaning” and further developed his own structure of social world by the method of the Ideal Type. In this work, the issue of otherness has raised a series of sociological questions, especially the question of intersubjectivity. Within the tradition of social thoughts, via Schutz’ beginning effort to answer the essential methodological question in modern sociology through the meaningful lifeworld that is based on the werelations, the probability of intersubjectivity is not only a key question as to how sociology is possible; it is also a question of how society is possible. In this paper, with the discussion of Schutz’s work placed within the history of methodological thinking, the author argues that Schutz’s work on sociological methodology provides us with a new possibility to understand the lifeworld of modern individual, and further, a way to reflect upon current sociological research in China. Reference | Related Articles | Metrics | Comments（0）

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Morality, Politics, and Abstract Cosmopolitanism：An Analysis on The Division of Labor in Societs and Durkheim’s other Writings LIU Yonghua Chinese Journal of Sociology    2013, 33 (1): 75-112.   Abstract （2234）      PDF（pc） （810KB）（456）       Knowledge map    Save Was Durkheim a nationalist or a cosmopolitan? To answer the question, the author proposes to go to Durkheim’s theoretical context of the moral discourse. Durkheim’s claim that morality begins with group membership definitely means that, in his analysis, different groups would differ in their levels. In the formative process of morality, the national state is undoubtedly given priority. If we must go back to the national state to interpret the formation of morality, this requires achieving cosmopolitanism within the national state. Therefore, Durkheim argued that, when the group’s ideal is just the specific expression of the human ideal, and when the civic ideal combines with the human general ideal to a great extent, we can realize the fusion of the specific and the general on the basis of the human nature, or move the universal morality downward to be realized in group morality. If cosmopolitanism must depend upon patriotism to come true, or if we cannot talk about the universal morality in the global context or human society, this means that we need go by means of internal construction in the national state to achieve the cosmopolitan ideal. This is distinctively liberal nationalism. At the same time, the formation of morality is not only based on group membership but also needs awareness that this qualification has a political basis. In other words, we should make corporate groups as politics participating groups engaged in the political life of the country as appropriate electoral units. Only when the country is subject to the constraint of such secondary intermediary political groups, can personal freedom be effectively protected. Therefore, Durkheim analyzed the modern social morality phenomenon on the basis of combined sense of “society” and “the social.” Finally, the article points out that in order to distinguish themselves from Durkheim’s theory of moral evolution, others are seeking their legitimacy in an era of globalization and pluralism including nationalism and a variety of identities, which undoubtedly challenges Durkheim’s theory of moral evolution. Reference | Related Articles | Metrics | Comments（0）

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Ethnic Enclaves Revisited:Effects on Earnings of Migrant Workers in Urban China HANG Chunni , XIE Yu Chinese Journal of Sociology    2013, 33 (1): 113-135.   Abstract （2632）      PDF（pc） （1126KB）（575）       Knowledge map    Save Among ruraltourban migrants, migrant workers from the same native place tend to concentrate in the same workplace. When this concentration is sufficiently dense, we may consider that place an enclave. According to the enclave literature of U.S. immigrants, working in places with the same ethnic groups may improve the economic wellbeing of immigrants. This study follows the same reasoning to test whether working with fellow provincials will increase the earnings of migrant workers in urban China. When we discuss the relationship between enclaves and pay, researchers should be aware of the impact of preexisting differences between the migrant workers who participate in enclaves from those who don’t. This preexisting selective heterogeneity may cause a biased estimation of the enclave effect if just based on a simple comparison of the earnings between enclave workers and nonenclave workers. Furthermore, there is heterogeneity in the enclave effects on the earnings among different groups of migrant workers. Therefore, a single estimate of the enclave effect may not be sufficient in capturing the variability in the impact of enclave participation of different groups. Considering heterogeneity, this study puts two questions to empirical test. First, among migrants with the same enclave participation propensity, do migrants who actually work in enclave firms earn more than migrants who work in nonenclave places? Second, what type of migrant workers gain the highest benefits from enclave participation? Using data from a 2010 survey of migrant workers in the Pearl River Delta and the Yangzi River Delta, we matched enclave workers and nonenclave workers on their enclave participation propensity and compared their earnings. We found a positive average earnings return to enclave participation, although this effect was smaller than what had been found before propensity matching. Moreover, migrants with a higher enclave participation propensity benefited more from actual enclave participation than those with a low propensity. Reference | Related Articles | Metrics | Comments（0）

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Social Status, Life Experiences, and Anxiety HUA Hongqin，WENG Dingjun Chinese Journal of Sociology    2013, 33 (1): 136-160.   Abstract （2441）      PDF（pc） （987KB）（591）       Knowledge map    Save The economic development in China has attracted worldwide attention since the social transformation. However, with the abundance of material accumulation due to the rapid economic development, wealth distribution has been further polarized, social dissatisfaction has been growing, restlessness has contaminated people, and anxiety has become a common social phenomenon. This quantitative research explored the relationships between class position (objective social status), class identity (subjective social status), and life experiences from the critical class perspective. Here are the results: Social status (both objective and subjective) and life experiences have significant effects on the generation of anxiety; those from low social status and those who have experienced unjust treatment are more likely to develop anxiety; relative to objective social status and subjective social status, life experiences play a more critical role in generating anxiety. But objective social status is the basis that not only directly causes anxiety but also restrains people’s class identity via their life experiences, and in this way, indirectly affects anxiety. This article argues that, social anxiety brought about by social status and life experiences tends to affects individuals in a negative manner. The mutual influence during the interaction among people is likely to make people aware of the cause of their anxiety and come to a “common sense” for an explanation, which conversely intensifies the “common sense” and further amplifies their anxiety. Through such an “amplifying” mechanism, the relationships of objective social status, life experiences and subjective social status with anxiety will generate three forms of anxiety, respectively: status anxiety mainly caused by low income, experience anxiety due to unjust life experiences, and interpersonal comparison anxiety based on wealth polarization. Reference | Related Articles | Metrics | Comments（0）

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Restriction and Construction: The Mechanism in the Presentation of Environmental Issues—A Contemplation of Citizens’ Opposition to Building L Garbage Incineration Plant in City A GONG Wenjuan Chinese Journal of Sociology    2013, 33 (1): 161-194.   Abstract （1898）      PDF（pc） （1266KB）（410）       Knowledge map    Save  Recently, the main theoretical task of environmental sociology is gradually shifting from trying to identify factors detrimental to the environment to aiming at discovering effective mechanisms to improve the environment. The prerequisite of the latter goal is a clear description of what leads to the central environmental issues. Based on the review of the research on environmental problems from the perspectives of environmental realism and environmental constructivism, this paper analyzes the social mechanism in the presentation of environmental issues, which is explained in the case of citizens’ opposition to building L Garbage Incineration Plant in City A. Firstly, the mechanism for the emergence of environmental issues consists of three closelyconnected links: group interest conflict; cognitive difference and claim competition; and power, resources and strategic operation. Environmental agenda not only is a continuous extension of the objective environmental conditions but also involves people’s attention, cognition and judgment. On the one hand, the evolving of environmental issues is restricted by the established patterns of the structural factors such as interests, power and resources. On the other hand, it is also adjusting its direction, contents and expression to people’s constantly changing cognition and strategic action. In turn, successfully putting new environmental issues on the agenda may alter the original structural constraint. Secondly, there is a gradual transition in how environmental issues are presented, that is, from being guided by the government or the elite to environmental stakeholders working together. This transition indicates diverse interest groups and also, signifies a change in the social structure. Thirdly, the two characteristics of environmental issues, uncertainty and imitation, suggest a risky society, and evidences the public desire for environmental justice and political equality, as well as the tension between the citizens’ social growth and structural limitation. Reference | Related Articles | Metrics | Comments（0）

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Development of Hong Kong Social Welfare NGOs in the Era of New Public Management TIAN Rong Chinese Journal of Sociology    2013, 33 (1): 195-224.   Abstract （2786）      PDF（pc） （1053KB）（471）       Knowledge map    Save he global third sector is at a turning point and being challenged by the transformation. Using an indepth case study method, this study investigated how New Public Management (NPM) had influenced the development of social welfare NGOs in Hong Kong since the mid1990s. This paper first reviews NPM’s development and its impact on the marketoriented reform in the area of social welfare in Hong Kong. It then analyzes the influences of these NPM reforms on the social welfare NGOs in regards to their commercialization trends, change in the organizational form, value basis and relation with the government. The finding suggests that Hong Kong government wants to have some financial relief and that the policy to have lump sum released to better the efficiency of public service does have an impact on the commercialization of the NGOs in the social welfare field, regardless whether it is contracting with the government or it is related to other types of revenues from commercialized items. New management techniques and new management operational structures are being created in response. Commercialized management and the rise of social enterprises are the results of the changes in Hong Kong NGOs’ organizational forms.While the penetration of NPM values into NGOs is deep, there are variations across the sample of 12 NGOs. Three types of NGOs can be identified in this study with regard to their different historical origins and functions, namely, operators, pioneers and advocators. Their various strategies in responding to NPM reforms and the changes in their relations to the government are discussed. This article argues that there is evidence of a tradeoff in organizational values for marketization suggested by previous studies. Given the continuing financial austerity and the growing authoritarianism of the government, the future of NGOs and their role in developing civil society in the region is quite uncertain. However, there is still one type of NGOs initiated by professionals in earlier years, and they are working to influence the business sector to realign values towards promoting social welfare as a new focus of advocacy. Reference | Related Articles | Metrics | Comments（0）

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Academic Development and Transcendence: An Attempt to the Indigenization of Contentious Politics Theory—Reading Emotions and Contentious Politics in Contemporary Rural China JIANG Libiao，WEI Xiaojiang Chinese Journal of Sociology    2013, 33 (1): 225-240.   Abstract （1910）      PDF（pc） （644KB）（463）       Knowledge map    Save Reference | Related Articles | Metrics | Comments（0）

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Possession, Operation, and Governance as Three Conceptual Dimensions of Town and Township Enterprises: An Attempt Back to Classical Social Sciences QU Jingdong Chinese Journal of Sociology    2013, 33 (2): 1-32.   Abstract （2807）      PDF（pc） （902KB）（630）       Knowledge map    Save Through the review of the representative sociological studies on ownership of town and township enterprises, this article attempts to use three classical theoretical concepts of possession, operation, and governance to analyze the formative and the operational mechanisms of town and township enterprises. In the aspect of possession, these enterprises compromise different elements of public, common and private ownerships. In the aspect of operation, they utilize land contracts, enterprise contracts and the financial responsibility system in the institutional context of the twotrack regime. In the aspect of governance, they fuse different mechanisms of the institutional, knowledge, and mores dimensions together, and free the traditional familial, kinship linkage, and customary resources for reform and creativity in the practice. As key position of social process of multiple elements and moments, town and township enterprises not only provide opportunities for institutional innovations, but also embody the institutional spirit of reform period, which combines tradition, regime, and new market mechanism, and provides an enriched process of social development. This framework returning on the classical social theories will be conductive to reflection on the other phenomenon of organizational and institutional change in social and economical reform. Reference | Related Articles | Metrics | Comments（0） Cited: Baidu(12)

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From Typological Studies to Dynamic Analysis: On “the mobility of faith” LU Yunfeng Chinese Journal of Sociology    2013, 33 (2): 33-52.   Abstract （2563）      PDF（pc） （709KB）（654）       Knowledge map    Save  Since C.K. Yang identified “diffused religion” and “institutional religion” in the 1960s, various typologies on Chinese religions have been promoted. For example, there are at least eight different terms in Chinese referring to sects, and there are six versions of translation on the term “diffused religion”. The prosperity of typologies is helpful to understand Chinese religion, but it also leads to confusion. This article argues that we should shift our attention from typology study to dynamic study. In order to illustrate the new perspective is helpful to understand religious phenomena in China and to develop several theories in the field of sociology of religion, we brief examine three kinds of faith’s mobility: gods, believers and religious organizations from the perspective of dynamic analysis. The followers of Chinese popular religion worship three kinds of supernatural beings: gods, ghosts and ancestors. They believe that people would become ghosts after death and very few people could become gods. There is not an absolute line between gods and ghosts; under some conditions, ghosts could become gods. In addition, many gods (e.g. Guangong) are commonly worshiped by different religions. The mobility of supernatural beings, which is popular in China, is helpful to understand the birth and rise of gods. In detail, we find that there are at least four factors contributing to the popularity of gods: the perceived efficacy of gods, the righteous behaviors, the state’s promotion and the religious groups’ efforts.The examination of religious believers’ mobility in China can broaden the research on conversion. Chinese people attach little importance to conversion and they could easily change their religious affiliation. Many people practice more than one religion simultaneously. For this reason, then examining the mobility of religious believers, we should pay attention to religious preferences besides religious affiliation. Especially, we should investigate their preferences on efficacy. The change of religious preferences would reflect the degree of commitment and thus finally determine the change of religious affiliation. We suggest that future researches should probe the logics behind the transformation of religious preferences.The mobility of religious organization could go beyond the scope of sectchurch theory. In the history of China, many secular organizations finally developed into religion, while some religions eventually became secular organizations. In addition, religions in contemporary China become more and more exclusive. In a sense, these phenomena are a laboratory for sociologists to examine the transition of religious organizations; and the dynamic study on religious organizations would expand the boundary of secularization theory and sectchurch theory.The main purpose of this article is to promote the shift of research perspective in the field of Chinese religious studies, namely from typological studies to dynamic analysis. While the former can only tell us what the reality is, the latter can predict the trends. In so doing, dynamic study can shed new light on some classic theories. Reference | Related Articles | Metrics | Comments（0）

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“Volksgeist” in History and Culture: Tao Yuenkuei and the German Factor in Chinese Anthropology YANG Qingmei Chinese Journal of Sociology    2013, 33 (2): 53-84.   Abstract （2685）      PDF（pc） （901KB）（595）       Knowledge map    Save This paper reports a history study based on an anthropologist as a case. Here, Tao Yuenkuei, an anthropologist after 1911, is examined to understand how the German concept of “culture” and theories entered the social sciences in China through the thinking and application by Chinese scholars. Since the reestablishment of the discipline in the 1950s, culture, a concept that meaningfully contains people’s internal spiritual world, has long been neglected in the Chinese social sciences; instead, great attention has been given to such concepts as “nationality”, “social forms”, “the state”, and “society”. Tao Yuenkuei is to be “rediscovered” because he was the first Chinese scholar to apply the cultural theory to his ethnographic research. In his empirical studies, he thought about how to treat the objectivity inherent in “culture” and to confirm the spiritual values of people. He discussed how cultures communicated and understood one another with excellent opinions. He did not just introduce Western concepts in order to explain the Chinese experiences; instead, he conducted field studies of minority groups in Yunnan, examining the cultural history, religion, mythology, and rituals to understand how patterns of cultural views took root in society and among individuals. His research in political science led to his dynamic ideas about the relationships between the state and culture. The current study has further discovered a mismatch predicament between his cultural theory and his ethnographic data. Its basic cause lies in the inability of his cultural theory in explaining why the core of culture, namely, volksgeist (the collective national spirit) had dual structures in the area of Xishuangbanna. To explain this predicament, this paper tries to take a historical angle to look at volksgeist to clarify the exaggerated consequence of the stateculture perspective on the one hand and to continue the exploration of the meaning of culture’s internal structure to the understanding of the history of civilization on the other hand. We can learn from Tao Yuenkuei’s cultural theory and ethnographic studies that open social sciences in pursuit of balance and tolerance can be established only on the recognition of the coexistence of “culture”, “the state”, and “society”. Reference | Related Articles | Metrics | Comments（0）

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A Preliminary Study on the Trust of Religious Organizations: Based on the Data from Shanghai LI Feng Chinese Journal of Sociology    2013, 33 (2): 84-110.   Abstract （2885）      PDF（pc） （768KB）（501）       Knowledge map    Save The relation between religious faith and trust is one of the important topics in sociology of religion. Its discussion can be approached on two planes: religious faith as an independent variable in studying the degrees of trust with different religious affiliations and/or religious faith as a dependent variable in terms of its degrees and acceptance. Religious studies in China and most studies in other countries mainly focus on the former, and a few western studies, if with the latter approach, are primarily testing Chaves’ new secularization theory in an empirical way. Moreover, trust of nonreligious organizations or institutions, a common research topic in general sociology, is not taken into account in such studies. This paper argues that, as a western thesis, the secularization theory refers to the phenomenon that religion is losing its authority in all aspects of social life. In contrast, religion in China is experiencing fast growth. This paper explores people’s attitudes towards religion on its rapid rise from the quite ideal angle of their trust of the religious organizations, with due consideration to the culturebased patterns in organization trust studies in general sociology. Using the data from 2011 Residents’ Legal Consciousness and Action in Shanghai, the author performed the multinomial logistic regression to analyze people’s trust of the religious organizations as a function of religious affiliation, demographic factors, socioeconomic status (SES), social trust and trust in other institutions. It was found that, compared with the trust of other organizations, Shanghai people trusted the religious organizations at a lower level but their trust degree in this regard had risen as compared with earlier data in similar social surveys. Religious affiliation, social trust, organizational participation and trust in the secular institutions had the strongest relations with the trust of religious organizations; the next were SES and social participation; but sex, age, education, or political status were independent of it. To be specific, related to religious affiliation, religious believers had higher trust in religious organizations than nonbelievers; members of an institutional religion had higher trust in religious organizations than nonmember believers; and believers of the traditional Chinese institutional religion showed stronger trust in religious organizations than those with Abraham religion. In regards to SES, the levels of the trust in religious organizations, from highest to lowest, corresponded to the levels of SES in the order of upper and upper middle class, middle class, and lower class. In addition, trust in religious organizations was positively correlated with social trust and trust of other organizations in secular social and public sectors. Keywords： trust of religious organization |  religious affiliation |  faith and religion |  culturebased pattern | social structure   Reference | Related Articles | Metrics | Comments（0） Cited: Baidu(8)

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Economic Developmental Models and Workers’ Income: An Empirical Study Based on Data of the Pearl River Delta, Southern Jiangsu, and Zhejiang WEI Wanqing | XIE Shun Chinese Journal of Sociology    2013, 33 (2): 111-130.   Abstract （2732）      PDF（pc） （683KB）（567）       Knowledge map    Save Different models of economic development have come into being during the rapid economic growth in China. However, researchers who are concerned about the successful experiences of various developmental models have often missed the treatment that workers receive. Little research has been directed to studying both the developmental models and workers’ treatment in conjunction. This paper, based on the survey data of the Pearl River Delta, Southern Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas, discusses the impact of three developmental patterns on workers’ income. Overall, among the three areas, those in Southern Jiangsu have the highest income level and those in the Pearl River Delta get the lowest. To find out the causes, Oaxaca decomposition analysis reveals that the difference in the worker’s human capital endowments is the most important factor. In Southern Jiangsu, the requirements of the workers’ human capital endowments are higher, which leads to a higher average monthly income in comparison with that in the other two areas. However, the regression coefficients show an opposite pattern: They are the lowest in Southern Jiangsu, whereas the coefficients in Zhejiang and the Pearl River Delta are actually higher. Although the developmental model in Southern Jiangsu asks for better human capital of the workers, that nevertheless has not given better returns to the workers there. With such a finding, the authors suggest that the government should push economic development toward using native resources and provide a better environment for entrepreneurship in addition to upgrading the industry, increasing the workers’ income, and improving the working condition. Reference | Related Articles | Metrics | Comments（0）

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Networks of Social Relations and Underground Economics: A Study on a Bicycle Black Market in Shanghai QIANG Ge Chinese Journal of Sociology    2013, 33 (2): 131-155.   Abstract （3987）      PDF（pc） （1380KB）（747）       Knowledge map    Save Mark Granovetter emphasized the effect of ongoing systems of social relations in economic actions. This paper analyzes the data from the field work from 2004 to 2008 to study the ongoing interaction between the networks of social relations and the economic actions in a critical case of a bicycle black market. The conclusion is as follows: each individual black bicycle dealer is in a predicament with a limited inventory to satisfy potential customers’ varying demands. However, if all dealers in the black market are considered, the entire inventory is then sufficient. Thus, the key of the black market is how to pass the information of diversified demands on to the right dealer. And networks of social relations can accomplish this. The networks in the current case are not based on kinship or geographical ties; they originate from the economic actions in the black market. An initial network starts to form through dealers getting to know people or la guanxi and then get fortified through showing loyalty or righteousness (jiang yiqi) in the ongoing trading. Such social networks have promoted information transmission, raised the entrusting level, created a transaction model for reciprocal benefits, reduced risks, and produced better profits of the black market activities. Furthermore, as economic actions continue, the social networks continue to change. Gradually, when the information and trust develop to a certain level, a Cartel is reached among the bicycle black dealers regarding bicycle providers and consensus prices, which in turn changes the operation in the black market and an even higher profit is attained. That underground economic actions are through intermediary activities and that information transmission is swift prevent the networks from turning into a mafia. Such networks can also serve as a force to foil potential malfeasance to protect the market order. Reference | Related Articles | Metrics | Comments（0） Cited: Baidu(4)

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Rural Governance and Subaltern Politics in the Agricultural DeCollectivization Period: A Stratified Reading of a Piece of Village History LI Jie Chinese Journal of Sociology    2013, 33 (2): 156-184.   Abstract （3015）      PDF（pc） （1014KB）（571）       Knowledge map    Save This study employed the subaltern history method to rethink and analyze the decollectivization process in the Chinese rural society. By integrating the oral historical materials and written archives about a village in the Jianghuai region, different narratives were found in this village at varying levels interpreting the same historical event of decollectivization. One was the public transcript created by the elite of the state at the top level, which emphasized peasants and their actions as the driving force of the decollectivization. The copy by the local cadres, to some extent, used and extended the discourse logic of the state governance. The peasants’ public version got their own expected political ethics by deconstructing and reshaping the state ideology, and aimed at maximizing their benefits through catering to the needs of the state governance. Finally, in the private versions, the narratives of the peasants and local cadres subtly converged. Both showed that during the last period of collectivization, the action power of the village community was still temporary, diverged, and unstable, far from being a unified action body. To a large degree, it was contingent on the changes in the larger environment. Further examination revealed that it was out of the state’s control need to maintain the continuity of the political reign by the state and the consistency of the governance image for a smooth transition of the land ownership system that the subjective consciousness and behavioral action of the peasants were placed at an essential position in the primary history narratives by the state. Reference | Related Articles | Metrics | Comments（0）

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Experiencing Breast Cancer: Women’s Body from Being “Diseased” to “Deformed” HUANG Yingying | BAO Yu Chinese Journal of Sociology    2013, 33 (2): 185-207.   Abstract （3498）      PDF（pc） （787KB）（852）       Knowledge map    Save This paper focuses on women’s bodily experience of breast cancer in the context of sociology of the body. Based on the indepth interviews of 14 Chinese women with breast cancer, we constructed a ‘deformed body’’ analytical framework to be distinguished from a widely used “diseasebased” one. For most of the women, breast cancer means mastectomy or removing an important part of the body that signifies the female gender. This type of bodily deformity challenges the normal female body. Therefore, breast cancer not only causes bodily pains but pertains to the definition of the normality and perfectness of a female body, and even that of the normality of being a female in the mainstream culture regarding the body. A “deformed body” framework has four aspects: bodily functioning and experience (pains and mobility constraints), bodily appearance (hair and breast losses), personal identity (the patient identity, the female identity, and the normal social identity), and interpersonal relationships (especially the intimate relationships). The narratives from this conceptual framework display how the females, while experiencing the breast cancer (especially after the mastectomy), face and manage their “deformed” bodies as defined by the medicine and society, and how to restore the “normality” of their bodies and intimate relationships. The body moves from the medical space to the social space. The four aspects of the sense of deformity, as well as the journey toward normality, show specific stage/phaselinked characteristics in the process of diagnosis, chemotherapy, and rehabilitations that are nevertheless intricately connected, reflecting the multidimensional and political nature of the body in everyday life. Reference | Related Articles | Metrics | Comments（0）

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The Land Revolution in China from the Academic History Perspective: Changes of Topics and Paradigms MENG Qingyan Chinese Journal of Sociology    2013, 33 (2): 208-232.   Abstract （3295）      PDF（pc） （787KB）（755）       Knowledge map    Save  The Land Revolution is considered as the most important factor that led the Chinese Communist Party to the completion of the military mobilization and the final revolutionary victory in China. And it is also a hot research subject in regards to the revolution in Modern China within many disciplines including laws, economics, political science, history, sociology, and anthropology. This paper is a critical review of the studies on the issues of the Land Revolution by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on three facets of problematique, theoretical paradigms, and specific topics. This review is using a new framework with four traditional research lines: studying China’s revolutionary history in America since the 1950s, studying the history of the Chinese Communist Party since the founding of New China, studying the Chinese social and economic history since the 1930s, and studying the oral history since the 1990s. Based on a careful review of the current literature related to the issues in CCP’s Land Revolution, the paper is critical in terms of clarifying the problematique process of the Land Revolution from the angle of the academic developmental history, to find out the internal roadmaps and the developmental paths within the academia, to look into the problems and limitations of various research traditions and theoretical perspectives, and to lay down a foundation for future research. Reference | Related Articles | Metrics | Comments（0） Cited: Baidu(3)

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“Totality” and Historic Perspective of Sociology：Review on “China Society Changes and The Leading Edge of Sociology: The Historic Perspective of Sociology” Academic Seminar LIU Yaqiu Chinese Journal of Sociology    2013, 33 (2): 233-242.   Abstract （2011）      PDF（pc） （520KB）（636）       Knowledge map    Save Related Articles | Metrics | Comments（0）

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The Reform and the Future of China’s Social Organization System LI Peilin Chinese Journal of Sociology    2013, 33 (3): 1-10.   Abstract （7491）      PDF（pc） （466KB）（1011）       Knowledge map    Save Reference | Related Articles | Metrics | Comments（0）

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A Sociologist’s View of Social Development in China: Trends, Challenges, and Opportunities ZHOU Xueguang Chinese Journal of Sociology    2013, 33 (3): 11-17.   Abstract （5098）      PDF（pc） （547KB）（674）       Knowledge map    Save Related Articles | Metrics | Comments（0）

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Some Ideas on How to Build Modern Social Institutions in China Quickly WANG Ming | ZHANG Yanbing | MA Jianyin Chinese Journal of Sociology    2013, 33 (3): 18-28.   Abstract （2895）      PDF（pc） （445KB）（479）       Knowledge map    Save Related Articles | Metrics | Comments（0） Cited: Baidu(4)

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For Public Interest: A Research Outline for Ideal Social Construction from an Economist LU Ming Chinese Journal of Sociology    2013, 33 (3): 29-38.   Abstract （5956）      PDF（pc） （513KB）（456）       Knowledge map    Save Reference | Related Articles | Metrics | Comments（0）

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Return to Earthbound China: Reflections on Township and Village Enterprises (TVEs) Studies ZHOU Feizhou Chinese Journal of Sociology    2013, 33 (3): 39-50.   Abstract （2872）      PDF（pc） （563KB）（529）       Knowledge map    Save During the 80’s and 90’s in the 20th century, Township and Village Enterprises (TVEs) were the strongest force leading to China’s economic growth. The enterprises were unique in the sense of the structure of property rights. Some economists pointed out the “ambiguous” structure in TVEs because their property right or ownership belonged to village collectives or township governments but their operation was delegated to TVE managers. Based on the new classic economic theory, this kind of property structure is inefficient due to the separation of the inputs and returns. The success of TVEs thus has stirred up hot debates on the economic growth of “China Pattern,” with the key question being why an ambiguous property structure could have been so successful.There have been three categories of academic explanations. The first one is based on “industrial structural characteristics,” which argues that the success of TVEs was due to the differences between the “light” and “heavy” industries. There was a shortage of “light industry” products in contrast to the “heavy industry” products. TVEs took the market opportunities to make consumer products and reaped high returns with little competition. The second explanation focuses on the behaviors of local governments. The new fiscal contract system provided local governments with strong incentives to develop local TVEs. The third is a “historical explanation,” that is, the success of TVEs could be explained by the “path dependent” theory. In 1994, Martin Weitzman and Xu Chenggang proposed a new “cultural explanation” in their paper that the Chinese “corporate” culture could be regarded as an important factor that had positively affected the management of TVEs. In the current paper, I try to continue Weitzman and Xu’s arguments and respond to Qu Jingdong’s views in his paper of “Possession, Operation and Governance as Three Conceptual Dimensions of Town and Township Enterprises.” I believe that the nature of village culture was an important part of TVE operation, which could help us understand the success of Chinese TVEs. Reference | Related Articles | Metrics | Comments（0） Cited: Baidu(2)

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Theory Building and Institutional Spirit: Some Thoughts Derived from “Possession, Operation, and Governance as Three Conceptual Dimensions of Town and Township Enterprises” ZHAO Liwei Chinese Journal of Sociology    2013, 33 (3): 51-64.   Abstract （2310）      PDF（pc） （732KB）（375）       Knowledge map    Save In social sciences, defining study targets, explaining issues, and predicting the future all rely upon conceptual paradigms or theoretical frames as reference, and furthermore, the accumulative development of any discipline reflects the progression of those paradigms and frames; it is anything but the simple collection of nonempirical data. In recent Chinese sociological research, Qu Jingdong’s paper of “Possession, Operation, and Governance as Three Conceptual Dimensions of Town and Township Enterprises” is one meaningful attempt in theory building based on the “China Experience.” Here, the researcher adopted the method of ideal type to construct a multidimensional conceptual framework around the key concepts of possession, operation, and governance in order to present and interpret the multidimensionality and the general meaning of town and township enterprises as a categorical phenomenon; and also, to bring to light the institutional spirit of the reform period. The general methodology that took in the interaction between the overall research perspective, conceptual frame and empirical questions, and the emphasis on the spiritual dimension of social phenomena as seen in his research not only represent his idea of “back to the classical social science” but is also enlightening to the advance of conceptualization and theorization in Chinese sociological research. In explaining some empirical questions, his research was an integrative and creative effort, demonstrating the possibility of applying the relevant concepts in classical social sciences to Chinese empirical questions and their valid power of explanation. Nonetheless, there are some issues that require discussion and improvement, for example, the general conceptual frame, especially the logical relations between the main concepts, is insufficiently described; the methodological distinction between the analytical and concrete levels is not always consistent; and the elaboration on the institutional spirit of town and township enterprises is not adequate. Reference | Related Articles | Metrics | Comments（0）

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Gender Differences in Anomia among China’s Rural Migrant Workers in the Context of Gender Imbalance LI Weidong | LI Shuzhuo | Marcus W. Feldman Chinese Journal of Sociology    2013, 33 (3): 65-88.   Abstract （2822）      PDF（pc） （657KB）（669）       Knowledge map    Save Most research findings regarding anomia agree that women in the Western society have higher levels of anomia than men. The social role theory has often been employed to explain the gender differences in psychological states, arguing that women’s poorer psychological wellbeing is primarily due to their segregated family roles that give little return values, and even if they participate in the sphere outside family, their public roles often involve conflict and tension with their family roles. Such a conclusion is derived from the research in Western industrialized settings. However, contemporary Chinese society is undergoing two major structural changes: gender imbalance and population migration, which may alter not only the social roles occupied by men and women but also their relative power in family. In such a social context, the current paper aims to explore whether there exist gender differences in anomia among rural migrant workers, and if there are, their determinant factors. The data for this study come from the “RuralUrban Migrants Study in District Y, X City, Fujian” in 2009. The sample surveyed were ruralurban migrants aged 16 years and older with agricultural hukou who had migrated to X City to work. In order to improve the representativeness of the sample, a loose quota sampling method was adopted, and the final sample had 1,507 participants. Multivariate linear regression analysis of the data has produced the following findings about the rural migrant workers: First, men have higher levels of anomia than women. Second, the unmarried have a higher level of anomia than the married, with the older unmarried being worse, but there is no gender difference in the influence of marital status on anomia. Third, education, career, migration time, employment and other instrumental social roles and characteristics related to supporting family have a significant influence on anomia only among men. Fourth, resourceoriented social participation has a significant influence on anomia only among men, but emotionoriented social participation has a significant influence on anomia only among women. Fifth, chronic diseases have a significant influence on anomia only among men. Reference | Related Articles | Metrics | Comments（0）

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Determinants of the Age of First Marriage: A Study Based on CGSS2006 WANG Peng | WU Yuxiao Chinese Journal of Sociology    2013, 33 (3): 89-110.   Abstract （4287）      PDF（pc） （1125KB）（3274）       Knowledge map    Save With the data from “2006 Chinese Social Survey”(CGSS2006),this paper investigates the change trend in the age of first marriage and its socioeconomic origins using the event history analysis model. Education, occupation and family socioeconomic status are found to be significantly related to the age of first marriage, with considerable differences between men and women, and between urban and rural residential registration. First, higher education, in general, is associated with later marriage; more so for women than for men, with this effect being the strongest for the women in the rural areas. Second, among the men who have rural registration (hukou), those in professional occupations marry earlier than those with nonskilled, non managerial jobs. Third, in the urban population, the higher the parents’ education attainment is, the later their children get married for the first time but the number of siblings correlates with an earlier marriage. Lastly, regardless of hukou location (urban or rural), father’s managerial position, in contrast to having a skilled job, is associated with his child’s earlier marriage. Father’s managerial position is associated with his son’s younger age of first marriage, especially so if their hukou is in the rural areas. Taken together, these findings answer to the marriage hypothesis from the modernization theory, that is, an individual’s education, occupation and family socioeconomic status all significantly affect the age of first marriage; but in the rural areas where traditional characteristics are more prominent, existing differences in fathers’ occupations have a more substantial impact on their children’s age of first marriage. Therefore, age of first marriage is not only a matter of an individual’s choice, but also closely relates to macrolevel factors such as social stratification, the hukou system, and the urbanrural structure. Reference | Related Articles | Metrics | Comments（0） Cited: Baidu(9)

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The Influence of Children’s Needs on Intergenerational Coresidence XU Qi Chinese Journal of Sociology    2013, 33 (3): 111-130.   Abstract （5531）      PDF（pc） （651KB）（561）       Knowledge map    Save Intergenerational coresidence of parents and married children is one of the most distinctive characteristics of traditional Chinese families. Whether this traditional living arrangement will change in the process of modernization has stimulated widespread interest of the academia. According to the classic modernization theory, modernization will push family taking up the modern family mode of the nuclear structure. However, many studies have found that, even in the most modernized urban areas in China, extended families still account for a large proportion, which significantly challenges the classic modernization theory. The existing literature suggests that the particular Chinese Confucian culture and the urgent needs of the support to elderly parents are the two primary reasons for the prevalence of extended families in urban China. Based on the data of the first wave of Chinese Family Panel Study in 2010, this paper finds that in addition to parents’ needs for eldercare, children’s needs are particularly important for coresidence. Young couples need to rely on their parents for monetary support, especially for housing; additionally, they need their parents to help with housework and childcare. This paper also finds that education expansion and population migration have undermined the foundation of Chinese extended family system. However, because of the strong needs from both parents and children, extended family still plays an irreplaceable role in contemporary urban China. Therefore, it is necessary for the extended family to survive in the near future. Reference | Related Articles | Metrics | Comments（0）

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How Do People Get Engaged in Civic Participation：A Case Study of the Citizen Activism in Rebuilding Enning Road, Guangzhou HUANG Dongya Chinese Journal of Sociology    2013, 33 (3): 131-158.   Abstract （3901）      PDF（pc） （1025KB）（546）       Knowledge map    Save This paper discusses how citizens get engaged in networks for civic participation and what affects the initiation, continuity, and impact of an actual action. The case study of the citizens’ engagement in rebuilding Enning Road in Guangzhou found that virtual communities expanded people’s actual connections; Internet mobilization, owing to its broad connectedness, helped stimulate the initiation of public participation but the shared channel of this type of media lacked in power to start an actual action or to keep the momentum. The existing studies suggested that whether the public attention and discussion based on virtual communities could be transformed into sustainable and influential public participation in action depended upon whether the “issue” itself had its sustainability and also, upon whether the mobilizing “agent” was a rightsprotecting group that shared similar interests. The case study reported in this paper, however, found that the offline “liaison and mobilization mechanisms,” as well as their closely related characteristics, were significant factors, too. Connection and mobilization via interpersonal networks pushed virtual discussions into real actions and helped keeping the actions going on, while the open space of the city expanded the actual social and policy influences for such actual civic engagement. The distinction of different liaisons from mobilization mechanisms illustrated in this paper helps the explanation of the civic engagement in contemporary China from the “diachronic” and “differentiated participation” angles. The paper concludes that either interpersonal networking organizations being supplementary to the organization of social groups or the public space opened up by the city being supplementary to the closed nature of the structure of the political system itself is still quite limited in the civic engagement in China. Reference | Related Articles | Metrics | Comments（0）

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Binding Development and Metaphorical Politics：A Case Study of Pingba Qiang Village in Wenchuan EarthquakeStricken Area XIN Yunxing Chinese Journal of Sociology    2013, 33 (3): 159-183.   Abstract （2601）      PDF（pc） （856KB）（988）       Knowledge map    Save  Through the field study of the tourism development and postdisaster reconstruction process in Pingba Qiang village in Wenchuan earthquakestricken area, the current paper suggests that the social developmental style there is essentially “modern engineering” led by the government, which can be summarized as “binding development” that reflects some basic characteristics of the “China Model”. In the operating process of this developmental style, a series of events of power and discourse games occur in local society, and the relationships between different types of participants, especially those between the grassroots government and the people, undergo dramatic changes. The “development discourse” in the national mainstream ideology, while being utilized in clever operations, is transformed into capital for grassroots political games, producing a relatively new “version” of grassroots politics. This phenomenon is labeled “metaphorical politics”. There are many notable relations between binding development and metaphorical politics. As the macro political system’s derivatives in China, the former and its inherent characteristics provide a prerequisite condition for the emergence of the latter. At the same time, the latter reacts to the former through its unique operational logic, and furthermore, to some degree, has a “deconstructing” effect on it. Through these relations, we can detect some subtle changes and new noticeable trends of the grassroots political form in China. With people’s enhanced awareness of their rights, bettered conceptualization of independence, and refined political protest strategies, China’s rural political power relations are facing the possibility of new reconstruction, and binding development will encounter more challenges. Of course, the future prospects of these changes are still hard to be accurately predicted because they are closely related to the direction of China’s macro political reform. Reference | Related Articles | Metrics | Comments（0）

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Globalization and Field Spirit: McDonald’s Action Logics in the Urban Cultural Designs in East Asia SHAO Yingping Chinese Journal of Sociology    2013, 33 (3): 184-203.   Abstract （2848）      PDF（pc） （719KB）（1073）       Knowledge map    Save Globalization does not necessarily lead to cultural homogenization. In the McDonaldization across the cities in East Asia, what has been spread globally is not complete homogenization of the American culture but its special localization experience resulting from the collision of the core of the American culture and the local cultural environments. McDonald’s follows a set of action logics in this particular East Asian cultural field. Its action procedure has led to consumers’ value recognition by fragmentized cultural infiltration strategies via regulations such as diet, consumption, fashion, and public service. Its substantial actions have brought in profound profit increases through superficial cultural designs that transfer not only marginal values but also marginal profits. McDonald’s takes the overall globalization as its action opportunity to swiftly quicken its McDonadization, not only in the sense of global consumption but also global production. In the overall process, the local culture, despite of its own growth, is in general being enveloped and assimilated by the global culture. The main thing we really need to focus on is McDonald’s skillful way of inviting the local society to be part of its superficial cultural designing rather than suppressing the local cultural consciousness and thus, the local cultural consciousness is gradually becoming cultural unconsciousness during such process. In order to inspire the local society to retrieve its cultural consciousness, the type of cultural consciousness based on the rural society should be questioned for its effectiveness and representativeness against the background of global urbanization. The urban cultural consciousness and city people should be paid more attention. Reference | Related Articles | Metrics | Comments（0）

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The State and the WorkingClass during the Industrial Restructuring of the StateOwned Enterprises in China: Structural Changes and Literature Review LI Jinfeg Chinese Journal of Sociology    2013, 33 (3): 204-241.   Abstract （4426）      PDF（pc） （842KB）（846）       Knowledge map    Save The relationship between the state and the workingclass has undergone three changes during the industrial restructuring of the stateowned enterprises(SOEs). First, the state is giving up its direct control over society with corporatism, transiting from being quasitotalitarian to fragmented authoritarian. Second, the workingclass, while breaking away from “the total institution”, is losing its status as the leading class protected by both the state and danwei (work unit). Third, the axis direction of the relationship between the state and the workingclass is shifting from being the primary factor in danwei to a logic based on capital. These three changes have been taking place in two processes: the pushing process of the SOEs toward an overall marketization and the withdrawing process of the SOEs from social responsibilities. All that, combined with the economic development, is the most striking feature of Chinese Authoritarianism, markedly different from any other powerful country. At the same time, economic development itself serves as a basis to extend Authoritarianism with legitimacy. The authoritarianism in China is currently in a fragmented state. The statecapitalworking class structure formed in such a context has a big problem of labor being severely exploited by capital. What we need to do is step up the legal system construction in the course of the capitalization of the SOEs, protect workers’ rights as citizens by strengthening organizational construction to fight for their industrial citizenship when SOEs are retreating completely from the social responsibility. At present when the state and capital are in coalition, the function of the legal system in protecting workers’ rights and helping workers forming their organizations for their rights is usually limited in many areas. The extent to which workers’ general rights as citizens can be protected and how much of their industrial citizenship rights can be obtained depend on the stance of the state. Only when the state maintains some distance from the working mass as well as from capital can workers’ rights be protected. Reference | Related Articles | Metrics | Comments（0）

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Toward a Reassessment of the “Structure-Agency” Issue as a Theoretical Myth: The Theoretical Implications of Ambivalence as a Reminder YEH Chi-jeng Chinese Journal of Sociology    2013, 33 (4): 1-34.   Abstract （3114）      PDF（pc） （972KB）（496）       Knowledge map    Save  Ever since the 1970’s, the “structure-agency” predicament has emerged as one of the most important theoretical issues in the Western sociology. This paper is designated to elaborate the metatheoretical foundation (such as philosophical anthropology and epistemology) underlying the “structureagency” predicament by tracing back to Thomas Hobbes’s theory of appetite in the 17th century as a historical source from which the predicament emerged. It is concluded that the entire predicament shares the following conceptual imperatives: supreme rationality, cognitive direction, structural constraints as an external force, and the dualism of structure versus agency. In the current postmodern condition with symbolic consumption, however, such a descriptive framework is unable to capture the pulse of the contemporary era or to sufficiently deal with many emerging phenomena such as symbolic exchange and ambivalence——the psychological state with both positive and negative emotions——and its historical significance. What is unusual is that, in the past, Western thinkers (including sociologists) used to require logical consistency as a prerequisite to human cognizance and to view the psychological ambivalence with a negative attitude. Such social psychology as having resulted from the enlightened rationality is incapable of effectively getting the deep cultural implications of this psychological state. It is thus vital for us to develop a new style of thinking and a brand new philosophicalanthropological presupposition in dealing with the condition of human existence——that is, we need a new sociology. In effect, Nietzsche of the 19th century foresaw the unique significance of symbolic exchange and ambivalence to human civilization. His concepts of “the eternal recurrence of the same”, “amor fati”, and such, can serve as the crucial foundation to tackle those issues that have emerged in the postmodern condition. Furthermore, the notion of self-cultivation through the exercise of will to power in order to materialize the figure of “overman” can thus be regarded as the conceptual paradigm in response to the theme of “structure-agency” as well as to the reconceptualization of agency. Reference | Related Articles | Metrics | Comments（0）

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Social Mobility and Political Trust: An Empirical Study Based on CGSS2006 SHENG Zhiming Chinese Journal of Sociology    2013, 33 (4): 35-59.   Abstract （3620）      PDF（pc） （708KB）（1161）       Knowledge map    Save Political trust is crucial for the legitimacy of a regime. Hence, the impact of social mobility on political trust is an important topic concerned by the scholars who care about the political consequences of social mobility. Using the data from China General Social Survey (CGSS) 2006, this study not only measured the inter-generational occupational mobility, inter-generational educational mobility, and intra-generational occupational mobility of the Chinese citizens in objective dimensions before 2006, but also measured the Chinese people’s perceived social mobility and expected social mobility in subjective dimensions. Based on the respondents’ trust in the government institutions and the central media across eight social issues, a “Political Trust Index” was constructed by using factor analysis. This study further examined the effects of social mobility on political trust in China. The results showed that: (1) the political trust not only had a vertical structure, i.e., people’s trust in the government departments  at different levels of political hierarchy, but also had a horizontal structure, i.e., people’s  trust in the same government departments across different social issues; (2) the reform and the great economic development in China over the past three decades provided great opportunities for Chinese citizens to achieve upward social mobility, and brought them hopes to live a better life in the future. The experiences of intergenerational and intra-generational upward mobility, the perception and the expectation of upward social mobility all enhanced Chinese citizens’ trust of their government; (3) however, Chinese people’s experience of downward social mobility before 2006 didn’t significantly undermine their political trust yet during that time period. These findings, on one hand, explain the reason why Chinese citizens still held a relatively high political trust in their government around 2006; on the other hand, they indicate that the experience and expectation of upward mobility largely due to socioeconomic development might have contributed to the social and political stability in China. Reference | Related Articles | Metrics | Comments（0） Cited: Baidu(6)

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Cross-Sector Differences in Generalized Trust and Mediation Mechanisms: Research Based on CGSS2010 HU Anning ZHOU Yi Chinese Journal of Sociology    2013, 33 (4): 60-82.   Abstract （2627）      PDF（pc） （879KB）（511）       Knowledge map    Save The market system and the state redistribution system, the two fundamental institutional environments in current China, are the focal theme in the academic research on the Chinese society in transition, both at home and abroad. Based on previous discussions on these two types of institutional environments, this study shifted attention from life opportunities to individuals’ generalized trust as a function of different institutional contexts. Using propensity score matching to deal with potential selection biases, this study analyzed the data from Chinese General Social Survey 2010, which revealed significant effects of institutional contexts on individuals’ generalized trust. In particular, employees in the public sector, as compared with those in the private sector (foreigninvested and privately owned enterprises), had higher levels of generalized trust, which reflected the nonmaterial consequences of different institutional arrangements in China. Further mediation tests indicated that political participation and relative deprivation significantly mediated between employment sectors and generalized trust. Those who worked in the public sector possessed a higher level of internal political efficacy and were more likely to get involved in community voting. Such an attitude and behavioral participation promoted their propensity of trusting generalized others. The lower level of their relative deprivation in regards to social and economic status also helped with building their higher generalized trust. Reference | Related Articles | Metrics | Comments（0） Cited: Baidu(4)

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Why Has Status Identification Declined：On the Changes in the Basis of Status Identification GAO Yong Chinese Journal of Sociology    2013, 33 (4): 83-102.   Abstract （2345）      PDF（pc） （943KB）（466）       Knowledge map    Save The downwardmoving of status identification is a very important phenomenon in theory building and policy making. To explain the quantitative downwardmoving of status identification, we must understand the qualitative changes in the basis of status identification. The statistical analyses show that the effects of the social units that used to be connected with status identification (e.g., types of Danwei, types of Hukou, sense of work honor) have declined significantly, but the effects of the variables that are connected with market elements (e.g., income, income satisfaction, types of occupation) have increased dramatically. The basis of status identification has shifted from perception of affiliation with social units to perception of possession of market opportunities (e.g., earnings), an essential shift in the “reference system”. The key to the understanding of the downwardmoving of status identification lies in the change of the “reference system” of the social status, not just the change of an individual’s “reference point”. Owing to the shift in the reference system for status identification, the old socialunitaffiliationbased “middleclass identification” tends to be falling apart, but the new marketelementsbased status reference system (possessions such as earnings) is hard to be established for “middleclass identification” due to its vague boundaries, instability, and overall perceived inequality. So on the one hand, the downwardmoving of status identification has become a universal phenomenon, not just observed in a particular group or stratus; on the other hand, the improvement of economic conditions and the decline of status identification go hand in hand. For the sake of policy making, this study suggests that, in order to have “middleclass identifications”, we should not only improve the incomes and benefits of the individuals but also establish social affiliation and citizen identity through regulations and institutions. Reference | Related Articles | Metrics | Comments（0）

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Stay or Leave: A Study on the Role of Political Social Capital on Rural-Urban Migrants’ Desire to Settle in the City LIU Qian DU Haifeng JIN Xiaoyi CUI Ye Chinese Journal of Sociology    2013, 33 (4): 103-116.   Abstract （2696）      PDF（pc） （655KB）（411）       Knowledge map    Save Discouraging rural-urban migrants’ roaming across different cities is helpful for them to get integrated with the city where they are working and is also of positive significance to the city in terms of maintaining its skilled occupations and upgrading its industrial sector. Based on the social capital theory, this study compared the differences in the effects of political social capital and other types of general social capital in order to analyze the impacts of the social capital from different types of organizations on ruralurban migrants’ desire to settle in their work locations and to further discuss the influences of the political social capital from different kinds of relationships. This attempt took one step further and was an extension of the existing research on the impact of social capital on rural migrant workers’ intention to stay in the city. The data used in this study came from a 2009 survey of ruralurban migrants in X City, Fujian province, which was carried out by Population and Development Research Institute of Xi’an Jiaotong University. The survey had a sample of 1 507 elements obtained with a loose quota sampling method. With the individual factors, family factors, social and environmental factors, and migrating factors under control, the binary logistic regression analysis yielded the following results: (1) the political social capital positively affected migrants’ desire to settle in the city more powerfully than does the general social capital, (2) compared with the strongrelationshipbased political social capital, the weakrelationshipbased political social capital had a greater positive impact on migrants’ desire to settle in the city, and (3) political social capital from both strong and weak relationships was more powerful than monorelationshipbased political social capital in affecting migrants’ desire to settle in the city. In addition, migrants were found to be more likely to depend on their weakrelationshipbased political social capital for help, thus, having broken the habituated Chinese way of thinking with kinship as its core characterized with “patterned differences” and “discriminated treatments”. Reference | Related Articles | Metrics | Comments（0）

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Empowerment Through Everyday Life Practices：A Case Study of a Hospitalized Patient with a Mental Disorder in Rehabilitation in Guangzhou DING Yu LI Hui Chinese Journal of Sociology    2013, 33 (4): 117-146.   Abstract （2603）      PDF（pc） （1051KB）（500）       Knowledge map    Save This paper is based on a socialwork intervention with an Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) case in a mental hospital in Guangzhou. With the method of “alternative lens” developed in drama and theater research, the readers will be guided to observe the space and power construction in a mental hospital, to see the hospital as the “total institution” under the experts’ power control, and to get the basics of the characteristics and importance of the daily life practices in such a total institution. The fragmented daily life that has survived the total control is not only the space for the hospitalized patients with mental disorders in rehabilitation to display their identity but also an ideal space for social workers to display theirs and to accept cases. Furthermore, this also makes it possible to explore the possibility of empowering the clients in daily life practices. Through reflecting upon the challenges and resistance encountered during the initial establishment of a professional relationship with the patient in the case, the authors recognized the meaningfulness of the client’s resistance, the power of the identity itself, the possibility of potential empowerment, and the significance of daily life practices to social workers’ acceptance of the client. There are two insightful points. First, there is tension between the identity in daily life practices and the power, which may lead to the individual challenging or defying the existing regulations and restrictions. Second, Social workers, when having gotten the first point, should be good at stimulating the individual’s identity in order to get his or her selfidentification and selfacceptance. The authors’ concept of empowerment through daily life practices summarizes the individual actions illustrated in the first point and also is the expectation and demand of the roles taken on by social workers. Reference | Related Articles | Metrics | Comments（0）

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State Strategic Actions at the Grass-Roots Levels and Community Processes: A Community Story of Autonomous Governance by the Owners of Nanyuan HUANG Xiaoxing Chinese Journal of Sociology    2013, 33 (4): 147-175.   Abstract （2721）      PDF（pc） （830KB）（433）       Knowledge map    Save In the transitional period, communities in China are in the transformation from being under the sole control of the state to the statemarket dual governance. Here, the independent variable is state strategies. Community residents are reacting to the changes of the controlling powers. Three government strategies, i.e., penetrating and controlling, interacting with the market, and building communities, have been the focus of academic attention. However, most of the studies emphasize only some strategic actions during a specific stage, leading to a complex but fragmented presentation of Chinese communities. This paper focuses on the government actions in different stages since the 1980s, and uses the longitudinal community developmental perspective to examine the relations of the grassroots level government strategies and community processes. With the extended case method, the paper places Nanyuan in the macro context of transition to analyze the state strategies in the basiclevel communities as well as the formation and development of communities. The interaction of different constituents of the government, companies, community organizations and community dwellers, which has structured the dominant community networks, is the focal point of this paper. The governmental differentiated mediating/controlling actions of intervening, withdrawing, or observing reflect the government’s attitude toward the community. The position of the community in the social stratification and the nature of an event are the key variables in determining government strategic actions. An event interacts with the status of the community; the higher its status, the stronger its power to bargain with the government. The inconsistency in government action strategies has resulted in big differences in the initial reactions of the grassroots and the key factor in community common action strategies is the “communality” of the community itself. The relative stability of both behavioral strategies is from their own respective “cultural tool kit”. The difference in the logic of the grassrootslevel government and that of the community reaction is an important source of the dilemma in community governance. Reference | Related Articles | Metrics | Comments（0） Cited: Baidu(1)

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Coercive Structures: Theory and Testing LIU Jun David Willer Pamela Emanuelson Chinese Journal of Sociology    2013, 33 (4): 176-192.   Abstract （2780）      PDF（pc） （1117KB）（291）       Knowledge map    Save Though they are found in almost every society, too little attention has been paid to coercive relations. Based on Elementary Theory, this paper discusses the meaning, classification and effects of coercive relations and structures. In coercive relations the threat, for example “Your money or your life”, is intended by the coercer to extract value from the coercees. The dyadic coercive relation and centralized coercive structures are differentiated, with the latter being further divided into the coercer central structure and coercee central structure. Studies have found that coercer in the former structure may exercise more power on the coercees, while coercees in the latter structure could negotiate with the coercer and will be coerced less. Secondly, strongcoercive structures are differentiated from the weakcoercive structures. In the former, coercers may exercise the maximum level of power over coercees. Thirdly, this paper differentiates direct coercion from indirect coercion, with the latter involving at least three actors. Based on that, models of direct coercion and indirect coercion were built but the discussion was directed at the effects of the indirect coercive structure in comparison with those of direct coercion in terms of strength and extension. The models were tested. Experimental results have indicated that direct coercive structure and indirect coercive structure have the same power effects under boundary conditions: they are equally effective in extent and strength. In both structures coercers earn maximum payoffs. Finally, the paper discusses factors affecting coercion, including information, coercer’s desire and tactics, coercers’ coalition, and coercees’ coalition. Reference | Related Articles | Metrics | Comments（0） Cited: Baidu(1)

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Choice of Religious Believes: A Literature Review of the Economics of Religion RUAN Rongping ZHENG Fengtian LIU Li Chinese Journal of Sociology    2013, 33 (4): 193-224.   Abstract （3397）      PDF（pc） （1087KB）（589）       Knowledge map    Save This paper reviews theoretical and empirical studies of the economics of religion in Western countries using a “supplydemand” framework. It is found that the existing theories in the economics of religion try to explain the mechanism of religious choice from either the supply or demand angle. The religious market theory, based on the supply dimension, takes the religious market structure as the determinant of religious choice, whereas the religious social capital theory, religious household production model, religious human capital model, and expost social insurance model, all based on the demand dimension, underline the impact of the interpersonal attachment within social networks, opportunity cost of religion participation, efficiency of religious production, and public goods supply of religious organization on religious choice, respectively. The robust factors affecting the religious choice identified in the existing empirical studies include age, gender and family. Although economics of religion in the West has developed a lot in recent years, this discipline is still a new one and there are obvious limitations in it. Firstly, current theories usually emphasize only one of the mechanisms of the religious choice based on either supply or demand, rarely integrating the two aspects together. Secondly, none of the theories have enough empirical evidences. Thirdly, most of the current theories in economics of religion were built on traditional Christian religions without much about other major religiousus belief systems. Since the opening and reforming, China has experienced huge and rapid changes in religious faiths. Introducing economics of religion as a perspective to China offers an opportunity to examine the religious beliefs in current China and to build and develop related theories. Meanwhile, scholars should take into consideration the differences between the Chinese society and Western societies as well as the uniqueness of China when they want to do religious studies. They should be careful when applying this perspective. Reference | Related Articles | Metrics | Comments（0） Cited: Baidu(5)

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