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    20 September 2013, Volume 33 Issue 5
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    Articles
    Citizenship Identity: The Theoretical Development of a New Research Field
    GUO Taihui
    2013, 33(5):  1-28. 
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    Citizenship identity is a research field that has developed from a partial merge of lines of studies on citizenship and identity, a result of expressing the subethnic local identity and the beyondethnic regional identity at the political level. This has greatly pushed the emergence and construction of modern citizenship and different forms of its identity in Western countries. In this field with two cores, citizenship and identity are opposed to each other yet they are partially integrated. As a new field resulting from the intersection of the two, research on citizenship identity is focused on individuals’ or groups’ psychological cognition and phenomenological experience of their membership in political communities (selfsafety, belongingness, solidarity and inclusion/exclusion) with a wish to promote the sense of dignity and status as members in a political community. Examined externally, research on citizenship identity in the Western academia has centered around three sociopolitical schools of thought, namely, constitutional patriotism, pluralism, and radical democratism. Researchers of each school, respectively, have worked out relatively coherent political views. Examined internally, research on citizenship identity has branched out into three lines, namely, legitimating construction, rejecting, and reconstructing, each of which, independently, is concerned with the power construction in modern citizenship identity, challenges from religions and local cultures in the age of globalization, and new issues coming with the citizenship of the European Union. This paper, based on the literature of the sociopolitical theories in the West since the 1990s, reviews the processes through which the two topics of citizenship and identity have come together, illustrates different theoretical discussions of citizenship identity and its internally differentiated aspects. Citizenship identity, as a new research field, is gaining high attention in the academia. The internal differentiation of citizenship identity is challenging the conception of a single homogeneous identity structure in regards to modern citizenship identity.
    Max Weber：Thinking on the Basis of Social Dynamics
    ZHANG Lüping
    2013, 33(5):  29-58. 
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    The time for German sociology to be established coincides with the time when the classical natural science was at its peak. Under the influence of scientism, determinism of causal monism prevailed in social sciences, especially in sociology. In order to change this situation, Max Weber introduced “value analysis” to sociology research and established two approaches: causal analysis and meaning comprehending. This not only made up for the gap in methodology, but also formed social dynamics in the sense of cultural significance. With this method, eventually Weber reasonably explained cultural differences between the Western European regions, Western and Eastern. Particularly, his research also related to the field of “Axial Age” civilizations or “Axial Civilizations.” Although he didn’t create these terms or concepts (that were first brought up by Karl Jaspers and Shmuel Noah Eisenstadt, respectively), he mentioned “prophetic age” in his Economy and Society. And more importantly, he had already fully covered the points in this field with his vision, idea and research. To Weber, interests in reality (economic interests in particular) directly govern people’s conductthat is regarded as a basic factor of social change; yet in the meanwhile he stressed that the “world images”(Weltbildes) created by “ideas” would have a directive effect on human action. Precisely according to this way of thinking in research, Weber focused on analyzing and explaining the great importance of the following factors in social change: value orientation and its relevant economic mentality, the basic tension between transcendental vision and mundane orders, and the capacity of new type of intellectual elites for reflexivity and criticism.
    On Operationalization: Inspirations from the Contemporary Philosophy of Social Sciences
    WU Suran
    2013, 33(5):  59-87. 
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    Operationalization is one of the crucial concepts in positivistic sociology, and many sociologists’ understanding of it was epistemologically originated from the traditional philosophy of social sciences represented by the theory of Logical Image. According to the theory of Logical Image, the meaning of a word is determined by the corresponding object behind it. In order to study social phenomena scientifically and precisely, sociologists have to translate the abstract theoretical words into measurable variables and indicators to deploy a quantitative analysis so that researchers can determine whether the initial propositions are true or not and obtain a relatively accurate perception of the social phenomena. However, the contemporary philosophy of social sciences has refuted that since the pragmatic turn, arguing that the meanings of words are not in their objective references but instead, in their practical usages and their corresponding lifestyle or Lebensform. This provides us a new understanding of operationalization: Operationalization is not a synonym for the dualistic view of subjectivity and objectivity; the process of operationalization is not discovering objective facts; it is a sort of explanation. The formal system built by researchers is not a mirror but an isomorphic design based on the external world. Therefore, the variables and indicators introduced by sociologists through operationalization constitute an isomorphic system linked with the theoretical propositions but not with their objective facts. In such an isomorphic system, the obvious axiom and internal logic can’t ensure its efficiency, and sociologists have to retrace the Lebensform to make a judgment of their works on operationalization. From this perspective, we may find a way out of the formalism trap in current social studies and the enduring divide in sociological methodology as well.
    Why Does Homeowners’ CrossNeighborhood Organizational Coalition in Shanghai Differ from That in Guangzhou? A CityLevel Comparative Analysis of the Governance Structures and Political Opportunities (Threats)
    HUANG Ronggui，GUI Yong
    2013, 33(5):  88-117. 
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    This paper presents a comparative study of homeowners’ organizational coalition in Shanghai and Guangzhou. Based on the analyses of the data from documents, firsthand interviews and Internet networks, homeowners’ organizational coalition in Shanghai is found to be weaker than that in Guangzhou. This paper proposes an analytical framework, which integrates the insights from social movement coalition studies and urban governance studies, to explain the differences in the homeowners’ crossneighborhood coalition in the two cities. Compared with Gangzhou, the residential governance system in Shanghai is relatively advanced and the probability for the homeowners to experience common threats and severe right infringement is relatively low; hence, less likely for the homeowners in different residential communities to collaborate. In addition, the highly developed grassroots governance structure in Shanghai also has the capacity to preempt the radicalization of conflicts and prevent them from becoming citywide public issues. Finally, lack of allies within the institutional system is also a contributory factor to the homeowners’ localized collective action at the neighborhood level in Shanghai. Given the responsive nature of contention at the city level in China and the Chinese social management system’s dual functions of social control and interest representation, future urbancontention studies should pay attention to the institutional roots of contenders’ claims and institutional constraints on collective contention as well as state’s multifaceted roles. On the one hand, the state can, to some extent, preempt the emergence of largescale collective actions through institutional design. On the other hand, availability of intuitional allies plays an important role in facilitating the formation of lateral coalition.
    Does Internet Use Encourage NonInstitutional Political Participation? An Instrumental Variable Analysis of the Data from CGSS2006
    2013, 33(5):  118-143. 
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     The Internet has been playing a more and more important role in the governance. Based on the data from the 2006 Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS), this study examined the relationships between Internet use and noninstitutional political participation, such as collective petitions, unauthorized protests, and unlawful assemblies . Given that the causeeffect relationships between Internet use and noninstitutional political participation may be bidirectional, this study used the individual propensity for ICT products as the Instrumental Variable (IV) to correct for the potential simultaneity problem and other sources of the endogeneity problem, in addition to controlling for a constellation of individual demographic attributes, socioeconomic and psychological characteristics, and experiences of political participation. Considering of the popularization of mobile phones in 2000 in China, this study operationalized the IV as not owning mobile phones before 2000 while controlling for the respondents’ income around 2000. The traditional Probit estimates for the effect of daily use of Internet were negative and insignificant, whereas the IVProbit estimates were positive and significant at .05 ahpla level. According to the result of Wald test and test for weak IV, the consistent estimates of IVProbit were adopted. The findings suggest that daily Internet use did encourage noninstitutional political participation. The opposite signs of the traditional Probit estimates and IVProbit estimates might as well suggest an “inhibitory mutual relationship” between the two variables. This may imply that expanding the channel for interest expression can be one of important methods to reduce social conflicts.
    Impact of Social Networks on Healthy Behaviors: An Example of Breastfeeding in Western China
    ZHAO Yandong，HU Qiaoxian
    2013, 33(5):  144-158. 
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    Although the positive effects of social networks on people’s health have been confirmed in research, studies on the mechanisms for such effects are rare. Some researchers argue that social networks promote health by encouraging people to indorse healthy behaviors. However, the proposed mechanism needs further empirical tests. Based on the data from a largescale questionnaire survey of more than 44 000 sampled households in 11 provinces in Western China, this study attempted to test the mechanism by which social networks influenced health. In contrast to the existing studies, this study didn’t examine the direct relationship between personal networks and his/her health. Rather, it targeted the mothers of newborns to investigate how their social networks influenced their decision of a healthy behavior of breastfeeding. Regardless of the fact that breastfeeding had generally been recognized as important to the health of both the infant and the mother, the result revealed that, among the mothers of newborns younger than 6 months in the Western provinces of China in 2004, only 22 percent provided exclusive breastfeeding to their children. Further analysis showed that social networks correlated significantly with an enhanced probability for mothers to breastfeed. If a new mother’s network had more strong ties, it was more likely to provide actual assistance and social support to the mother when the newborn was in early development stages; thus, the mother became more likely to breastfeed the infant. If mothers’ networks had health professionals, relevant knowledge and information would be effectively disseminated and the likelihood of breastfeeding would be raised. The current study tells us that social networks help improve people’s health primarily via their provision of social support and information for healthy behaviors.
    School Environment and Gender Difference in Math Scores: An Empirical Study of Seven Middle Schools in Guangzhou
    WANG Jin，CHEN Xiaosi
    2013, 33(5):  159-180. 
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    In recent decades, due to the effectiveness of the “OneChild” policy in the cities, and the social campaign to improve the enrollment and reduce the dropout rate of female students especially in the countryside, the gender gap in educational attainment up to the college level has narrowed. While female students are now as likely as male students to finish high school and enter college, they are also leading the male students in academic performance in schools. Different studies from various countries point to the same result across societies including China.Legewie and DiPrete (2012) found that male students in schools with low average SEI (social economic index) families were more likely to be negatively affected by peers’ antisocial attitudes than female students, and regard goodatstudy as less masculine, which resulted in male students’ poor academic performances. Female students in similarly disadvantaged schools, however, were less prone to such negative peer pressures.Using data collected from seven middle schools in Guangzhou and the same school fixedeffect model employed by Legewie and DiPrete, the paper seeks to understand how school environment affects gender differences in academic performances in different schools in China and how it compares to Legewie and DiPrete’s study of the German case. The pattern of gender differences in academic performances, measured by standardized math tests, is similar to Legewie and DiPrete’s findings that the gaps between average female test scores and average male test scores are larger in socially disadvantaged schools than elite schools. While students from families of different socialeconomic statuses are sorted into different schools of the twotiered (public vs. private schools) and highly differentiated (selective elite schools vs. nonelite schools) school system in Chinese cities, the class assignment within schools is supposed to be random. As a matter of fact, most of the classes within the seven schools studies were based on random assignment, only a few classes were based on preferential selections either by test scores or by higher fees. Classes within schools, therefore, can be regarded as naturally formed experimental groups by random assignment. Since school class is the most immediate and salient micro environment for the students, especially in Chinese schools because students mostly stay with the same class throughout the school years, how variations among classes within the same school affect students’ performances provides a way to assess specifically how micro environment in school affects students’ attitude, behavior, and performance.The results show that the gender gap in math test scores is larger in classes whose average father’s educational level is lower. Average father’s educational level of the class is also related to the differences in male and female students’ gender attitudes and learning behavior which are also shown to have significant effects on academic achievement.
    Education, Income and Happiness of Chinese Urban Residents: Based on the Data of the 2005 Chinese General Social Survey
    HUANG Jiawen
    2013, 33(5):  181-203. 
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    With the rapid progress of society, the relationship between education and happiness has attracted the attention from many social researchers. At present, research on this topic can be summarized into two main analytic logics. One is the subjectivetosubjective logic, which claims that education can change one’s cognitive abilities, and in turn, he/she feels happy. The other is the objectivetosubjective logic, which insists that, through education, people obtain knowledge and skills with economic values that can be transformed into intangible capital for revenues. So, education’s impact on an individual’s subjective wellbeing is achieved by changing his or her objective living conditions. However, empirical investigation of the second analytic logic is very limited both at home and abroad, especially so in the relevant areas in China. Thereby, from the socioeconomic perspective in the happiness research, this study used income as an intervening variable and decomposed the effect of education on people’s happiness into direct effect and indirect effect (or the effect of education returns). Furthermore, it analyzed their impacts on Chinese urban residents’ happiness in different spaces and times. A positive correlation between education and urban residents’ happiness was observed. Individuals with high school or technical school diplomas and those with Bachelor’s degrees were the happiest. Regardless of the level of marketization in a region, education returns correlated positively with people’s happiness. Examined in different times, such positive correlation was significant prior to the recruitment expansion in higher education but disappeared after recruitment expansion in higher education was in practice. These results revealed an important problem: The increase in education returns didn’t necessarily improve the happiness felt by urban residents under certain conditions. To the author, the cause of this phenomenon might be in the changed structural characteristics that could have influenced education returns – a segmented labor market, an explanation different from that in the West.
    The Hero Ethic and the Continuity of Protest Action: A Case Study of the Protest Activists in Western Shandong
    WU Changqing
    2013, 33(5):  204-205. 
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    The logic of damage has been widely used to explain the motivation of rural protesters in China. In such an explanatory frame, rural protests are triggered by situations when interest or ethics is damaged. However, this theory can only partially explain the emergence of a protest but cannot account for its continuation after protesters’ interests have been compensated for or their ethical relationships have been restored. This paper is about a case study of the rural protest activists in western Shandong. The motive of the activists’ continued protest is generated by the protesting action itself – the hero ethic, which is apparently different from the logic of damage. This hero ethic produces three mechanisms of mutual cooperative connections, status differentiation, and friendship rebuilding to keep protest activities going. To be specific, the mechanism of mutual cooperative connections retains the activists in the protesting group and lets them earn higher reputation with their persistent effort. When ordinary followers quit the protest because of various dilemmas, the mechanism of status differentiation distinguishes the activists from the rest and propels them to protest with even more courage. When the protest activists become disappointed with their original community, the mechanism of friendship rebuilding will be developed to get meaning of their actions outside their rural community, although such a mechanism has its own limitations, for example, group disintegration due to status competition. In the last part of the paper, the author discusses the special contribution of the hero ethic to the understanding of the rural protest politics in China.