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Table of Content

    20 January 2018, Volume 38 Issue 1
    Everyday Life Logic in Field Research: Experience, Theory, and Method
    ZHE Xiaoye
    2018, 38(1):  1-29. 
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    The author's many years of field research provide the base for the sociological discussion in this paper about the relationship between field research and everyday life logic as well as the relationship between theory and method. The study finds that there is an intermediate stage between experience and theory, namely, the everyday life logic that calls for an in-depth investigation.The logic of daily lives is a kind of "accumulated foundation" that is hidden in the details of everyday life and can only be uncovered by immersing oneself into the field. Steps such as from observing to understanding, from speculating to questioning, from predisposition to analysis, from techniques to social process, from tale-telling to facts finding, are suggested as desirable research methods. Individual case study and multi-case comparative study have different effects on research. While there is an increasing and interrelated relationship between the two, the difference exists in their focal points in different phases. Individual case study, with its focus on questioning, observing and interpreting, can provide evidence to test hypothesis and find the typical institutional logic in everyday life. Multi-case comparative study compensates the deficiency of individual case study by either expanding investigation ormaking comparison among different cases. This type of reasoning is an analytic reasoning, a form of inducing general conclusions from multi-case comparison. It contributes to the formation of a theoretical prototype.

    “The Imagination of Fieldwork”: Between Science and Art-a Study of Petitions and Power: The Story of the Migrants of a Dam in China
    YING Xing
    2018, 38(1):  30-53. 
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    Fieldwork has the dual characteristics of empirical work and humanistic nature. The so-called "the imagination of fieldwork" is something between scientific investigation and artistic imagination that closely combines accurate observation with imaginative reproduction. This study examines the fieldwork involving in writing Petitions and Power:The Story of the Migrants of a Dam in China, an investigative report that demonstrates"the imagination of fieldwork". From the perspective of the relationship between fieldwork and theory, the basic issuesin field research are neither generated directly from empirical reality nor deduced from middle range theory. The sphere of "the imagination of fieldwork" is defined within the domain of classical theory, whichis a significant source to field studies. However, in practice, theory must be integrated completely with empirical reality. From the perspective of the relationship between micro and macro level, neither representativeness nor typicality,but complexity is the basic characteristic of "the imagination of fieldwork." This complexity is manifested in many ways such asreflection on the natural legitimacy of "hometown sociology"; the breakthrough on the conformability, systematicness and organicity of the functionalist paradigm; taking the analysis of actors rather than structures as the focus of fieldwork; bringing the historical perspective into fieldwork, and so on. Complexity in fieldwork is not entirely a result of some artificial designsbut rather oftenan outcome of the unexpected. "The imagination of fieldwork" has the characteristics of handcraft. Its cultivation needs special patience and requires not only a great deal of effort on classical theory by taking no easy path, but also constant reflection and careful examinationin the pursuit of complexity.

    The Structure and Meaning of Everyday Life: A Sociological Study of Qu Li from the Book of Rites
    WU Liucai
    2018, 38(1):  54-80. 
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    The study of rituals from the perspective of social anthropology helps us to comprehend our everyday life and deepen our understanding of social structure because the process of rites emphasized by this approach triggers the practical subjectivity of people in social interaction. Rituals connect the institution and the mind, so the study of rituals helps us to understand the composition of the social world,as well as the heart and spirit underneath the institution and the structure. Through a social anthropological interpretation of Qu Li from the Book of Rites, this paper finds that everyday life possesses basic elements such as social structure and time. Rituals contain complicated structures of human relations and the relationship between heaven and man, and rich experiences of time. The social world in Chinese rituals is a world of ghosts and gods,and of the five cardinal relations generated and sustained overtime. The ritual system is not only a secular social structure but a system of cosmology. The study of Qu Li shows that our everyday life does not exist in ourselves but in our integration with the outside world. When humans practice rituals, he/she find the meaning of life in social life. This paper holds that the emotion and the meaning embodied in rites are the source of the sacred sense of social life, and rituals are the means and the process of bringing people and society into this realm. Such an interpretation places traditional rituals under the scope of sociology, contributing to the development of Chinese social theory.

    Fire Administration of Wuzhou and Regional Social Transformation During Ming and Qing
    MAI Sijie
    2018, 38(1):  81-103. 
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    Fire administration is one of the important city affairs in imperial China and it often reveals regional social transformation at the time. During Ming and Qing, the social transition occurred the Xijiang region transformed Wuzhou from a military fortress to a key market town. This transformation was clearly reflected on the fire administration of the town. The Ming government established an important military base in Wuzhou during its suppression of Yao ethnic rebellion in the region. In the post-rebellion years, the town's military function gradually disappeared. Different social groups began to reorganize social order around the fire administration. Officials, military households and local ethnic people all attempted to promote their own interests through the fire administration. Fire God worship religious rites evolved into a system of elaborated symbols representing diverse discourses. Furthermore, the arrival of salt merchants from Guangdong further complicated the fire religious practice. By Qing dynasty, many former soldiers became gentry through the Imperial Examination. The gentry played an active role in public life through construction and maintenance of the Fire God temples and became an important force in urban social life. Meanwhile, the development of rice trade brought a large number of Guangdong traders to Wuzhou. These merchants engaged in the local social life by building the Northern God temple. Thus, there were two traditions of Fire God and Northern God in the fire administration of Wuzhou in Qing dynasty. The integration of the local gentry and traders led to the merger of the two traditions and eventually a reconstructed fire worship religious system in Wuzhou.

    The Society-Culture Paradigm in Memory Study: An Interpretation of the Halbwachs-Assmann Research Tradition
    LIU Yaqiu
    2018, 38(1):  104-133. 
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    The societal and cultural concepts in Halbwachs-Assmann research tradition offers us a society-culture paradigm that remedies what is absent in the existing memory study. The paradigm is presented through concepts that are closely related to sacred memories, such as the social framework of memory, social quality and the Canon, myths, festivals, and etc. For sociology, the social power that stimulates people's memories comes from the so-called "Sacred Society" described by Durkheim. Halbwachs' collective memory theory is rooted deeply in sociological tradition. Concepts such as social framework and social quality are at the core of Durkheim's social ontology. They helped Halbwachs formulate his sacred memory theory. Likewise, Jan Assmann's cultural memory theory continues Halbwachs' study of sacred memory by supplementing a new dimension of cultural memory. This relationship forms the foundation of the society-culture paradigm in the memory study. Taking the meaning of cultural rules in history as its core, the paradigm emphasizes the combination of social and cultural dimensions in memory and provides a systematic analysis of how historical society becomes possible. To change the social memory study from "orientation discussion" to "paradigm analysis" can be beneficial to the development of the social memory research tradition.

    Factions and Their Govermance: A Perspective of Hume's Social and Political Theory
    XU Zhiguo
    2018, 38(1):  134-159. 
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    The faction conflict and its harm are one of the chronic problems plaguing the ancient Western republican government. The construction of a civilized political order must meet the challenges of factionalism. Based on the observation of the history and the times in the West, Hume started from his empiricist theory of human nature and regarded "factionalism" and its governance as the core contents of social and political theory. Hume believes that factions are rooted in human nature, people's emotional orientation and diversity of beliefs is the underlying reason. Although factionalism can't be completely eliminated, one can rely on the inherent principles of the development of affairs, make the use of various forces and design corresponding systems to control the harms of the factional factions. Hume suggested that factional governance can proceed from three paths:First, the development of commerce, science and the arts can improve people's rationality and mutual sympathy among the people so as to eliminate people's extreme beliefs and promote social solidarity. Secondly, civilized Political order should not rely on civil virtue, but should establish mutual checks and balances between factions. Thirdly, the extremeness of religious factions is a major threat to the construction of social order. In order to maintain the stability of social order, religious tolerance must be advocated on the one hand, On the other hand, we must also establish a system of secular government control over religion. Hume's factional governance theory has a modern vision based on a commercial society. It surpasses thinkers such as Machiavelli and Hobbes. While building social order, On the one hand Hume is committed to weakening and eliminating the destruction of social order by extremist factions. On the other hand, moderate factions become the driving force for social prosperity and development. Hume's theory on factional governance has an important impact on the constitutionalism of the United States and still has important implications for the factional governance in today's society.

    The Power of Co-optation: Party, Political Capital and the Development of NGOs: A Comparative Case Study in H city, Z Province
    LI Shuoyan
    2018, 38(1):  160-185. 
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    In recent years, there has been a growing number of publications focusing on the state-NGOs relationship in China. However, most of the studies regard the state as "the government" and neglect the role of the Party, a key player, in shaping the state-NGOs relationship, as well as the difference between the government and the Party. As a ruling party, the CCP exercises tremendous influence on people's daily life.Current studies indicate that the government tend to use a strategy of categorization to control NGOs. What remains unclear, however, is whether the Party has a different impact on NGOs than the government and how it influences the relationship between the government and NGOs. This paper examines the emerging role of the Party since the policy implementation of "Strengthening the Party Organization in NGOs" in 2015, which requires all NGOs to establish CCP branch units. Two environmental grassroots NGOs are selected for the comparative case study in this paper to examine the different mechanism through which the Party makes its impact on NGOs. The finding indicates that only the Party is able to co-opt the leaders of NGOs and give them political credentials and capitals that help expanding NGOs'social networks and creating a hospitable regulative environment for growth. The finding suggests that a close tie with the state does not necessarily mean a loss of autonomy. This study is by no mean a comprehensive discussion of the impact of the Party on NGOs. Further research is needed to study the actual impact of this relationship on public governance.

    Political Trust,Social Network and Protest Potential: An Empirical Comparison of Fifty-Three Countries and Regions around the World
    CHEN Xingying, WANG Heng
    2018, 38(1):  186-214. 
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    Based on the data from the World Values Survey(WVS) wave 6 (2010~2014),this article applies the multilevel mixed-effects logistic regression model to explore the influence factors of protest potential. An analysis of more than 70 000 samples from 53 countries and regions around the world indicates that individual protest potential is determined by both micro-level and macro-level variables. On micro-level,personal social network and political trust have an effect on individual protest tendency. The quantitative analysis shows strong positive correlation between social network and protest potential,while the effect of political trust on protest potential is not definitive. The finding supports resource mobilization theory in organizational sociology that provides a better explanation of protest potential in comparison to collective behavior theory in social psychology. On macro-level,polity type exerts impact on individual protest potential. Citizens under democratic regimes are more prone to protest than those under authoritarian regimes. In authoritarian countries,the group with strong social networks and low political trust exhibits the highest probability of protesting,while in democracies,those with strong social networks and high political trust are most likely to protest. It is a clear indication that regime type inserts influence on micro-level factors affecting protest potential. In conclusion,in democracies,political trust promotes people's engagement in protests,and social protests demonstrate institutionalized characteristics of high density with low intensity. In authoritarian countries,people resort to protest mainly because of their distrust in the authority,therefore social protests have non-institutionalized characteristics of low density with high intensity.

    Chinese People's Perceptions about Meritocracy
    LI Zhonglu
    2018, 38(1):  215-237. 
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    The allocation of occupational positions and economic wealth based primarily on merits has been widely accepted as a principle of economic justice in modern societies. However,relatively few studies have empirically examined ordinary Chinese people's perceptions of the meritocratic allocation of social rewards. To extend our knowledge about public attitudes towards mobility opportunities,this paper seeks to examine ordinary people's beliefs about determinants of getting ahead through analyzing the recently national representative data from China Family Panel Studies (CFPS2010). Empirical results show that:Firstly,about 60 percent of Chinese people tend to believe that individual education and hard work are more important than family origins for economic wealth and success. Secondly,Chinese people's perceptions of meritocracy are closely related to their objective status,and people with a higher socioeconomic status tend to more believe in meritocracy than their lower-status counterparts. Thirdly,young adults growing up in the market reform era are more likely to hold stronger meritocratic beliefs than their counterparts who have experienced the planned economy. Finally,the income inequality at county level has significantly negative effects on public perceptions of meritocracy;especially for those with lower socioeconomic status. This paper extends our understanding of the reasons for Chinese citizens' increasing tolerance of inequality against the sharp rise in income discrepancies in the reform era,because that most of Chinese people hold strong belief that merits are playing a more important role than family origin in socioeconomic advancement in modern China. However,it should be noted that Chinese people's perceptions about meritocracy are highly related to their socioeconomic status.