Loading...
Office online
Journal Online
Download
More...
Links
More...

Table of Content

    20 January 2009, Volume 29 Issue 1
    Previous Issue    Next Issue
    Articles
    The Global Financial Crisis and State Autonomy
    Liu Chunrong
    2009, 29(1):  7-12 . 
    Asbtract ( 2388 )   PDF (505KB) ( 526 )  
    Related Articles | Metrics
    The “Financial Tsunami” and the Change in the Chinese Social Policies
    Huang Xiaochun
    2009, 29(1):  13-17 . 
    Asbtract ( 2175 )   PDF (458KB) ( 630 )  
    Related Articles | Metrics
    The Impact of the Financial Crisis in the 1990’s on Korean Society
    Zhang Haidong;〔korea〕 Li Zailie
    2009, 29(1):  30-36 . 
    Asbtract ( 2569 )   PDF (407KB) ( 785 )  
    Related Articles | Metrics
    When Formal Laws and Informal Norms Collide： Birth Control Policy and Lineage Networks
    Peng Yusheng
    2009, 29(1):  37-65 . 
    Asbtract ( 3637 )   PDF (1020KB) ( 950 )  
    Related Articles | Metrics

    The core in the kinship system in China is ancestor worship and the idea of carrying on the family name through procreation. These cultural norms are in direct confrontation with the birth control policy in contemporary China. On the one side are the familyplanning laws backed by the powerful and unyielding state apparatus; on the other side are the ancient reproductive norms supported by reviving lineage networks. Even though the state has succeeded in reducing the overall birthrates dramatically， analyses of villagelevel data have shown that villages with strong kinship ties tend to have a higher birthrate. The study demonstrates how informal social networks can bend the iron bars of the formal institutions.

    Village Democracy， Roles of Village Cadres， and Their Behavioral Strategies
    Sun Xiulin
    2009, 29(1):  66-88 . 
    Asbtract ( 2723 )   PDF (1136KB) ( 715 )  
    Related Articles | Metrics

    The discussion of village cadres’ roles and their behavioral strategies has always been a very important issue in sociology， especially since democracy got practiced in rural China. Has there been any change in the village cadres’ roles since? In their daily governance， how are their roles determined and their behavioral strategies practiced? To answer these questions， not only is indepth field work needed but also serious empirical analysis. Using the data from a sixprovince survey， this paper quantitatively analyzed the effect of village democracy on the village cadres’ roles and behavioral strategies. The empirical results showed that the practice of village democracy significantly reduced village cadres’ concern for state tasks but increased their concern for community tasks. This means that village cadres’ role leans toward that of a spokesman on behalf of community interests.

    Contested Terrain：Social Transformation Seen in the Process of Resolving Labor Disputes by a Local Government
    Zhang Yonghong
    2009, 29(1):  89-108 . 
    Asbtract ( 3107 )   PDF (813KB) ( 768 )  
    Related Articles | Metrics
    Based on the fieldwork studying the process of resolving labor disputes by PS District government in Southern China， this paper presents a concrete case of the implementation of the Labor Contract Law passed in 2008. The author has found that since the Law took effect， the district government has transformed its permissive role toward an intervening one， and that the district government has purposefully lowered the execution standard of the Law to prevent possible social instability. The author argues that the ineffective enforcement of the labor contract system is the result of the interaction among several interlocking social processes， for example， the organizational environments of the local government， changes in the relationships between the district government and the community， the industrial upward transformation， etc. The author’s research shows the importance of the local background， historical processes and concrete institutional conditions in understanding the ongoing social transformation in China.
    Guanxi or Social Capital
    Zhai Xuewei
    2009, 29(1):  109-121 . 
    Asbtract ( 3597 )   PDF (959KB) ( 1414 )  
    Related Articles | Metrics
    Since its introduction to the sociological academia in China， the concept of social capital has such a great impact that many scholars claim it to be a method or a framework for studying and explaining Chinese social networks. However， many issues become covert when the two concepts of social capital and guanxi are merging. By comparing the extent of their abstractness， compatibility， and social types， respectively， this paper argues that guanxi studies are rooted in familyoriented society， whereas socialcapital studies are rooted in civil society. The two differ in individual choice， membership qualification， public or private interests， participation action， and citizenship. This paper also discusses their respective direction for extended research.
    Social Mobility and Migrating Workers’ Social Networks
    Zhang Yunwu
    2009, 29(1):  122-141 . 
    Asbtract ( 3007 )   PDF (689KB) ( 599 )  
    Related Articles | Metrics
    The investigation of the social networks of the people who had migrated into Xiamen revealed the impact of social mobility on social networking. The main findings include： Those from rural areas showed a larger gross volume of social networking and bigger social networks with neighbors and countrymen than those from urban areas， although the persistence of their social networks appears to be weaker than that of the latter’s; the distance of mobility correlated positively with the volume of social networking with countrymen; compared with those who had moved into higher social strata， people in lower social strata had a larger volume of social networking that was more homogeneous; number of years staying in Xiamen correlated positively with the volume of networking with relatives， persistence of the network， and occupation homogeneity; increased years of education facilitated the formation of networks with colleagues， fellow students and friends， and thus led to wider networking and better selection but weaker network persistence; the upward political mobility resulted in an increased gross volume of networking as well as the number of relationships with neighbors， fellow students and countrymen， which enhanced the homogeneity of their networks. These findings have indicated that the existing theories of foreign scholars have their limitation when applied in China. This can be attributed to the deep internalization of the kinships and regional relationships formed in the long agricultural society， the differences of the social structures between rural and urban areas， the characteristics of social mobility， the inconsistency between population urbanization and life urbanization， and the unique sociohistorical culture in China.
    From “Shuren Society” to Weak “Shuren Society”: A Social Network Analysis of the Interpersonal Interactions Among Villagers in a Mountainous Region， South Anhui Province
    Gou Tianlai;Zuo Ting
    2009, 29(1):  142-161 . 
    Asbtract ( 3376 )   PDF (1235KB) ( 648 )  
    Related Articles | Metrics
    The theory of “shuren society” has been applied widely， but it has gradually become stereotyped due to the absence of indicators for measurement. This study used the method of social network analysis to recheck the strong ties and weak ties in the interpersonal interactions in a natural village in a mountainous region， South Anhui Province. It was found that the social networks among the villagers in the natural village depended upon indirect connections; that there were many isolated individuals in the networks with strong ties but with high risks of rupture in the entire network system; that isolated individuals virtually did not exist in the networks with weak ties， hence lower risk of rupture in the entire system. Under such circumstances， even living in natural villages， it was still relatively hard for the villagers to get to know one another really well. In this study， this social characteristic was conceptualized as weak shuren society.

    Perception and Insight： Phenomenological Sociology in the Practice of Research
    Yang Shanhua
    2009, 29(1):  162-172 . 
    Asbtract ( 2960 )   PDF (1443KB) ( 599 )  
    Related Articles | Metrics
    The most important significance of phenomenological sociology for the practice of qualitative research is an active attitude of cognition determined by the internal principles of phenomenology. Once this active attitude of cognition is carried out， it will bring a revolutionary change in our research as well as educating and training our students. Such cognition is accomplished through perception and insight in the practice of research; as a result， the acquired understanding and interpretation of the meaning of the phenomenon are relatively good in depth and accuracy; hence everyday life becomes the main target of research： Everyday life is the center of the life world. Furthermore， the life world that consists of social actors （including the subjectivity created by them） and the environment in which social actors live can be called a world of meaning to some extent.
    Another Pattern of Manufacturing Consent： The Usual Practices of Coordinating LaborManagement Relations in Company G
    You Zhenglin
    2009, 29(1):  173-196 . 
    Asbtract ( 2942 )   PDF (820KB) ( 779 )  
    Related Articles | Metrics
    This paper first reviews， respectively， Burawoy’s and Walder’s viewpoints of manufacturing consent. It then describes the usual practices of coordinating labormanagement relations in Company G——referred to as another pattern of manufacturing consent by the author. The paper goes on to analyze the main reasons for this pattern’s practical existence from the angles of the employees and the employer. The paper concludes with a discussion of two problems hidden in the pattern.