Table of Content

20 July 2013, Volume 33 Issue 4

Previous Issue    Next Issue

Articles

Toward a Reassessment of the “Structure-Agency” Issue as a Theoretical Myth: The Theoretical Implications of Ambivalence as a Reminder

YEH Chi-jeng

2013, 33(4):  1-34. 

Asbtract ( 3110 )   PDF (972KB) ( 495 )  

References | Related Articles | Metrics

 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.

Social Mobility and Political Trust: An Empirical Study Based on CGSS2006

SHENG Zhiming

2013, 33(4):  35-59. 

Asbtract ( 3619 )   PDF (708KB) ( 1155 )  

References | Related Articles | Metrics

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.

Cross-Sector Differences in Generalized Trust and Mediation Mechanisms: Research Based on CGSS2010

HU Anning ZHOU Yi

2013, 33(4):  60-82. 

Asbtract ( 2626 )   PDF (879KB) ( 510 )  

References | Related Articles | Metrics

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.

Why Has Status Identification Declined：On the Changes in the Basis of Status Identification

GAO Yong

2013, 33(4):  83-102. 

Asbtract ( 2342 )   PDF (943KB) ( 466 )  

References | Related Articles | Metrics

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.

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

2013, 33(4):  103-116. 

Asbtract ( 2694 )   PDF (655KB) ( 409 )  

References | Related Articles | Metrics

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”.

Empowerment Through Everyday Life Practices：A Case Study of a Hospitalized Patient with a Mental Disorder in Rehabilitation in Guangzhou

DING Yu LI Hui

2013, 33(4):  117-146. 

Asbtract ( 2600 )   PDF (1051KB) ( 496 )  

References | Related Articles | Metrics

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.

State Strategic Actions at the Grass-Roots Levels and Community Processes: A Community Story of Autonomous Governance by the Owners of Nanyuan

HUANG Xiaoxing

2013, 33(4):  147-175. 

Asbtract ( 2719 )   PDF (830KB) ( 432 )  

References | Related Articles | Metrics

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.

Coercive Structures: Theory and Testing

LIU Jun David Willer Pamela Emanuelson

2013, 33(4):  176-192. 

Asbtract ( 2778 )   PDF (1117KB) ( 290 )  

References | Related Articles | Metrics

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.

Choice of Religious Believes: A Literature Review of the Economics of Religion

RUAN Rongping ZHENG Fengtian LIU Li

2013, 33(4):  193-224. 

Asbtract ( 3390 )   PDF (1087KB) ( 589 )  

References | Related Articles | Metrics

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.

Pascal’s Importance in the History of Thoughts as a Defender of Catholicism

KANG Zixing

2013, 33(4):  225-240. 

Asbtract ( 2005 )   PDF (640KB) ( 332 )  

References | Related Articles | Metrics

Pascal’s Les Lettres Provincials records and reveals one important religious and thought debate in “The Age of Louis XIV,” which happened between the Society of Jesus and the Jansenists. The contradiction represents not only the divisions inside Catholicism but also the conflicts between modernity and the philosophy of the Fathers of the church. Pascal engaged in this debate directly, and wrote a series of letters about it, which are Les Lettres Provincials. In order to understand and reflect upon our life, institutions, and crises fully and holistically, it is necessary to go back to this battle of thoughts around the birth of modernity. We should pay attention to the reaction and criticism to modern philosophy from the defenders of the ancient tradition. Pascal, a rare talent in the age of Louis XIV, must have had profound insights full of wisdom and could offer us a perspective beyond our own condition. This “work of genius” provides us with the firsthand materials of the theological controversy in the age of Louis XIV, with its values far beyond artful rhetoric or eloquent tactics. It can be taken as a book of history, and also a thoughtful book on religion, morality, and politics. What is noticeable is his detailed descriptions of the differences between the two factions and their theological principles. Being an observer of the debaters, he presented his readers this “battle of thoughts”; being a defender of Catholicism, he criticizes the Protestantism and the reformers inside the Catholic Church.Pascal’s criticism of the Society of Jesus is still helpful to us reflecting upon modernity. His criticism of the theory of casuistry echoes with the criticism of nihilism by contemporary philosophers and is a valuable intellectual resource for our thinking of issues of modernity.