Table of Content

20 July 2009, Volume 29 Issue 4

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Articles

Market Transition and the Change of Danwei：Danwei Studies Revisited

LI Lu-Lu, MIAO Da-Lei, WANG Xiu-Xiao

2009, 29(4):  1-25. 

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In 30 years’ reform and opening up， China has completed the basic transition to market economy， resulting in tremendous changes in the societal structure. Subsequently， organizations and institutions in basiclevel urban China， especially danwei and the danwei system， have also undergone profound transformation. In the context of institutional market transition， this essay systematically reviews the studies concerning the change of danwei. After defining the concept， the paper dissects the literatures into three parts： （1） the system of danwei and its evolution， （2） the power structure and behavior patterns within danwai， and （3） danwei as a mechanism of social stratification. The authors conclude that， while the method of case study is preferred， future danwei studies should focus on the following three subjects： （1） to investigate the power structure and behavior patterns within different kinds of danwei， （2） to explore the specific micromechanisms of danwei in social stratification， and （3） to understand the new characteristics and functions of the Chinese social organizations with danwei as a reference. 

Contracting the Mentor-Apprentice Relationship and Labor Politics：A Case Study on a State-Owned Manufacturing Enterprise in Northeastern China

WANG Xing

2009, 29(4):  26-58. 

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Apprenticeship is a form of institutional arrangement for skill impartment in Chinese stateowned enterprises （SOEs）. During the period of command economy， apprenticeship worked fine as the major means for imparting skills in SOEs. But in the process of marketizing SOEs， apprenticeship is experiencing a crisis. The differences in the effectiveness of apprenticeship before and after the reform of the SOEs are due to the existence or absence of the coordinating mechanism in the corporate governance to provide the compatible institutional arrangement. Contracting the mentor-apprentice relationship has changed the nature of the mentorapprentice relationship： from a nonmarket relationship structure to a market relationship structure. This change has led to the emergence of labor politics regarding the controlling power of skills and influenced the production order in the enterprises.

Township Governments’ Packaging of Projects after the Agricultural Tax Reform： Town of Telahe in the Northeast as an Example

FENG Meng

2009, 29(4):  59-78. 

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This article takes the town of Telahe in Northeastern China as an example and analyzes the change of the township financial structure after the agricultural tax reform and the township government’s action of project packaging. Before the agricultural tax reform， the township governments gathered their revenues mainly through taxing the peasantsa financial form of “mandatory revenues from the subordinates”. After the reform， “project finance” has become the main revenue resource for the township governments， which is achieved by the township government applying for project funds. The examination of the goose-raising project in the town of Telahe reveals that the township government has packaged every segment in goose raising into a project that can be used for fund applications and that the success of getting the funds from the authorities above is enhanced by fabricating numbers and administrative performance and propaganda. The author claims that it is this financial form of “getting revenues from the superiors” that has led the township governments to packaging their projects.

Consumerism and Tongzhi Space： The Routing of Alternative Desires in Urban Life

WEI Wei

2009, 29(4):  79-106. 

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Based on an ethnographic study of such tongzhi businesses as saunas， bars and gyms in Chengdu’s gay community， this paper discusses the emergence and development of the new “deviated space” or “tongzhi space” driven by the consumer revolution in contemporary Chinese cities from Lefebvre’s perspective of “production of space”. The author argues that the rise of market economy and consumerism has pushed the issue of homosexuality out of the private sphere to the public market economy. Homosexuality has thus earned its social legitimacy for the first time. Although still facing repression from the state and the mainstream society， the expansion of the gay （tongzhi） population’s public space nevertheless reflects on one facet the “liberation” and “freedom” enabled by the ongoing consumer revolution. The commercial places are an important part of the tongzhi community. By partaking in the community activities， the homosexuals identify with one another in sexuality， language， interests， and values， having thus constructed the cultural basis for the tongzhi movement.

Lesbian Women’s Marriages and Families： A Challenge to the Traditional Marriage System

CHEN Ya-ya

2009, 29(4):  107-129. 

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Gay marriages have attracted attention in reports and studies in recent years， but there are very few studies of lesbian marriages. Lesbian marriages significantly differ from those among gay men and the two should not be put into the same category. With the method of Internet participation observation， this paper examines the Chinese lesbian women’s marriages and families. The author selected three focal topics in the Internet forums： marriage in form only， extramarital affairs， and parentchild relationships. The analysis was around the reality of the marriagerelated pressures and dilemmas experienced by the lesbians. The reflection was about the limitations of the traditional marriage system and its expulsion of the homosexual partnership. Finally， a proposal was advanced that we should gradually raise people’s awareness so that it would be possible to have the traditional marriage system revised so that all parties involved would enjoy a satisfying identity and life security.

Falsification： Likelihood and Necessity in Social Science ResearchA Discussion with Zhang Yang

YIN Hai-Jie, PANG Wen

2009, 29(4):  130-147. 

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Challenging Zhang Yang’s arguments in his article Is Falsification Possible in Social Science?， this paper contends that falsification is one of the inevitable results in theory testing and that it is more effective and reliable than confirmation. This paper tries to clarify the misunderstandings of Popper’s falsificationism in Zhang’s paper. Popper’s falsification is not to “falsify by a single counter example，” and there exist obvious differences among falsification， falsifiability， and falsificationism， which should not be obscured. The current paper also responds to the four challenges that falsification has to face in social sciences as pointed out by Zhang： the DuhemQuine thesis can’t hamper falsification； Mill’s proposition can’t challenge falsificationism； statistical statements are not probability statements； and the theory of scope conditions combined with falsification will make the theories in social sciences more scientific.

On the Problems of Falsificationism Again： A Rejoinder to Yin and Pang’s Critique

ZHANG Yang

2009, 29(4):  148-166. 

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In response to the critique of Yin Haijie and Pang Wen， this article re-accounts for the inapplicability of falsificationism in social sciences. Due to the Duhem-Quine thesis and the probability of the propositions in social sciences， we cannot falsify a theory/proposition by a single exception as Popper’s naive falsificationism puts. Meanwhile， the “complex” falsification proposed by Popper and Yin et al. is in essence based on induction， so it is not superior to or more parsimonious than confirmation， and thus， goes against Popper’s logical starting point for his propositions. Moreover， the value of statistical testing in social sciences does not need to be justified by falsification as falsifiability could hardly be manipulated in practice and it is already totally within the conception of “explanatory power”. Therefore， falsifiability is not a criterion of demarcation for scientific theories from unscientific ones； neither is falsificationism the logical foundation of social sciences. The article also extends the discussion to the relationships between falsification， scope conditions， and developing empirical research in social sciences.

A Study on the Interaction Between Governmental and Non-Governmental Organizations under the State Corporatism

ZHANG Zhong-Ru, FAN Ming-Lin, WANG Tua-Han

2009, 29(4):  167-194. 

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Based on the theories of corporatism， this study did an in-depth examination and a comprehensive analysis of the interaction between governmental and non-governmental organizations of various types in Shanghai using the qualitative case study method with the concepts of authorization， control and monopoly as the targets of analysis. From the perspective of state corporatism， two new concepts are proposed： protective state corporatism and stratified corporatism. Using the same theoretical perspective to observe the relationship between the state and society， the researchers have found that the original “column-shaped” relationship is now being transformed into a “funnelshaped” one， which indicates the initial blurred boundary between the state and society.