Table of Content

20 March 2019, Volume 39 Issue 2

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The Huang Renyu Paradox and the Logic of the Empire

ZHOU Xueguang

2019, 39(2):  1-30. 

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In a series of writings, historian Huang Renyu (Ray Huang) depicted a paradoxical phenomenon in the Chinese history-the coexistence of loose-coupling in China's governance on the one hand and the resilience and stability of political order on the other. The Huang Renyu Paradox has been observed throughout the long Chinese history: The stability and perpetuation of dynasties and royal successions were coupled with a bureaucratic apparatus whose downward reach had never gone beyond the county level. This article aims to interpret the Huang Renyu Paradox in light of the unified ideology based on the civil examination institution in the Chinese history.It has been observed in the organization literature that there is a substitution effect between professionalization and bureaucratization. That is, a lower level of bureaucratization tends to accompany a higher level of professionalization in formal organizations. Drawing on this insight, I argue that there is a similar substitution effect between ideological unification and organizational solidarity in China's governance. In particular, the unified official ideology, sustained by the institution of civil examination, played a central role in the making of the Huang Renyu Paradox. The civil examination can be seen as a professionalization process of official-scholars who became the carriers of the official ideology, in the form of Confucianism. The unified ideology provided the isomorphic institutional basis across different localities, areas, and layers of the bureaucracy, and hence the integration of the empire, giving rise to a loose-coupling system of governance in the Chinese history. Specifically, the civil examination institution led to (1) horizontally, the mutual diffusion and intertwining between formal and informal institutions across the boundaries of the Chinese bureaucracy, and (2) vertically, the link between the state and society that shifted between ceremonial and substantive authority. These lines of arguments are illustrated drawing on recent historical research on social history, legal history, and local and kinship organizations.This article concludes with the observation that, in contemporary China, the mode of governance experienced a significant turn, a shift from governance on the basis of a unified ideology to organizational solidarity. The institutional building based on formal organizations has generated a set of salient characteristics as well as challenges for the governance of China today.

“One Ruler Measures to the End”: Rule Hardening in Grassroots Governance——Taking a Pilot Project in Urban Renewal as an Example

SHI Yunqing

2019, 39(2):  31-57. 

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Regarding launching an urban renewal project,the rising social pressure makes the grassroots state harden the rules while the remaining high pressure from the top makes them keep rules elastic,the contradiction between which causes the dilemma in urban development nowadays. Taking a landmark pilot project as an example,via the observation of the practice of rule hardening principle described as “One Ruler Measures to the End”,this article tries to answer the question of how it is possible for power to reproduce its operational space under nowadays-rising regulatory constraint. In this case,the principle of “Rule Hardening” includes both “result” and “process”,and fulfills through three-step mechanism as hardening in external conditions,hardening in compromising rules and hardening in the limitation of bringing to press. Though this mechanism,the grassroots state manages to mobilize the resources embedded in the system and extend the hidden boundary of the hard and rigorously rules on the surface that makes the rules elastic and soft again,but in a more formal,institutional and organizational way. It could be considered as the state correspondence to the rising social protest during last phrase and indicates a more exquisite and unobvious way of governance,which shows the continuously interaction between the state and the society in the long view of history.

Does “Basic Health Protection for All” Improve Farmers'Health? Reassessing the Effect of CNCMS on Medical Service Utilization, Health and Income of Inpatients

ZHANG Dan, XU Zhigang, CHEN Pin

2019, 39(2):  58-84. 

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China's New Cooperative Medical Scheme (CNCMS) has basically achieved “Basic Health Protection for All”, but there is still no consensus whether the program has really improved the farmers' health. There are two main reasons: one is that the effect of CNCMS maybe is limited because of the principle of “wide coverage and low copayment” followed before the New Medical Reform in 2009, but its effect has strengthened after that and the data previous research used is before 2009 mostly, therefore it cannot estimate the effect brought by the New Medical Reform accurately; the other reason is that the previous research ignores the heterogeneity of people with different age, health and wealth. Based on the data of 2011 and 2013 CHARLS(China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study) national survey, this study explores the effect of CNCMS on farmers' medical expenditure, health status and income systematically by using propensity score matching (PSM). We mainly focus on people who have higher demand for medical care such as inpatients or people who should have been, and all samples are divided into different groups by age, health and wealth. The result shows that, although CNCMS has an effect on farmers' health status, it is limited and hard to say CNCMS can fully improve farmers' health, even for those who have poorer health, demanding more medical care or are referred to hospital. However, those who are older, poorer or have poorer health have huge benefit. For them, CNCMS has a positive and strong effect and it can improve their health significantly without increasing out-of-pocket expenditure. Besides, the longer time they enroll in it the greater the effect. For those who are younger and have better health, participating in CNCMS will let them have more access to medical service.

Spatial Structure Type and the Level of Social Interaction with Neighbors: Spatial Perspective of Urban Community Integration

HE Xiaxu

2019, 39(2):  85-106. 

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Community integration is an important way to improve capacity of national grassroots governance,while social interaction with neighbors is one of the important aspects of community integration. Based on the data of China Labor Force Dynamic Survey Data of 2014 (CLDS), this article explores the relations between spatial structure of urban community and social interaction with neighbors. Three basic spatial structures within community are constructed: social space, physical space and ecological space. The study has found that the higher level of occupational heterogeneity,the lower the level of social ties among neighbors; the level of economic heterogeneity has no effect on neighboring ties. Heterogeneity of dimensional differences have played selective negative effects at community level. The higher proportion of local population and the higher frequency of residents' participation in social organization activities, the higher the level of neighboring ties. The positive effect of residents' participation has compensation effect for heterogeneity. Physical space of community structure includes segregated and shared facilities. Segregated facilities such as the buildings access control have substantially reduced the level of neighboring ties. It plays the role in protecting the residents of this building and excluding non-residents, that also reflects the vulnerability of neighboring ties and residents' inertia psychology in maintaining relations. The number of shared facilities in the community has no influence on social ties with neighbors. Environmental pollution in residential areas has a direct damaging effect on social connections with neighbors. The green ratio of community can enhance the level of social interaction with neighbors. Therefore, in the process of community integration and reshaping, reducing the degree of environmental pollution in residential areas, building a friendly community ecological environment, and actively encouraging and promoting residents to participate in different types of social organization activities are important ways to improve the level of neighboring ties.

The Diverse Structure of China's Middle Class and Its Multidimensional Political Orientation

QIN Guangqiang, ZHANG Meiling

2019, 39(2):  107-132. 

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The middle class in contemporary China is not a class entity with uniform characteristics, but a social existence group form with multiple levels. Based on the two dimensions of system segmentation and market situation, this paper divides five basic types of middle class, and uses the 2015 Chinese Social Survey Data (CSS) to draw the multi-dimensional political orientation of the middle class from the five related dimensions of political attention, political efficiency, political trust, opinion expression, and collective action. The results show that the political orientation of the two middle classes in the system is obviously conservative and stable, they show a high awareness of the recognition and maintenance of the existing order, and there is basically no negative evaluation of the government and the intention to seek change; the new middle class outside the system is in a position of “high economic status” and “low political status” shows a radical political orientation, their political attention and sensitivity are high, but their sense of political efficiency and political trust are obviously low, and there is a markedly high level of collective action participation experience or willingness; while the marginal middle class and the “old” middle class present a complex duality of political radicalism and indifference, and this duality is largely divided by age, market opportunity and living conditions. The middle class outside the system constitutes a potential unstable factor. It should focus on the integration of the class, the integration of interests, and the smooth of the upward mobility channels to foster and strengthen the middle class, so that it can better play the role of the “stabilizer” of society.

Threatened Interests,Satisfaction towards Governments' Work and Citizens' Acceptance to Migrant Peasants in Urban China:Based on the Empirical a Analysis of CSS2011

LIU Jiankun, XU Hongzhi

2019, 39(2):  133-159. 

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This article tends to explore the formation mechanisms of urban native citizens' exclusive attitudes towards the migrant peasants in contemporary China. By reviewing the theory of threatened interests,which is regarded as the mainstream explanation for urban native citizens' rejection to migrants,and based on Coser's conflict theory and the process of the changing interest structure in China our research studies the evolution of the relationship between citizens and governments and its influence on citizens' exclusive attitudes towards the migrant peasants. By analyzing China Social Survey data in 2011,we find that:(1) though the citizens' exclusive attitudes partly derives from the deterioration of their current life situation,the main reasons are their interest loss in the past and pessimistic expectations to their future status;(2) The lower satisfaction toward governments' work of providing public services,the lower willingness of the local citizens to accept migrant peasants;(3) Affected by their dissatisfaction towards the government with low administrative efficiency and poor ability to narrow social inequality,urban citizens who lost their status in the past are more likely to significantly reject the peasant immigrants. The results indicate that citizens' exclusive attitudes towards the migrant peasants are mainly unrealistic. Moreover,citizens' interests loss and their satisfaction towards governments not only influence their willingness to accept peasants in cities respectively,but also have an internal relationship,thus generating the “scapegoat” mechanism that could make the peasant immigrants become an alternative target of some citizens to express their dissatisfaction towards governments. Finally,from the perspective of social integration,we discuss the necessity of accelerating the reform of interest distribution as well as narrowing the income gap in urban China.

A Different Face of Social Network: Employer-based Enclave and Migrant Workers' Rights and Interests

WEI Wanqing, GAO Wei

2019, 39(2):  160-185. 

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In China, rural-to-urban migrant workers who are from the same place of origin tend to concentrate in the same workplace. If the concentration is sufficiently dense, it means those migrant workers build up a social network that could be defined as native place enclave (NPE). Progress has been achieved in increasing the understanding of NPE in migrant workers studies. What is the relationship between NPE and migrant workers' rights and interests? Answers to the question can be roughly categorized into two groups. The first group includes immigration research that emphasizes that the network of NPE is an important social capital of migrants and plays a positive role in the rights and interests of migrants. The concept of social capital has been used as a frame to discuss NPE in immigration research literature. NPE has played an important role for migrant workers to adapt to the city in China, and the “enclave thesis” speculates that immigrants benefit from working in enclaves. However, the second group contained labor research emphasizes negative perception of NPE. They emphasized that the function of NPE was not to control migrant workers but rather to guide them by using soft rules of interpersonal relationships. Based on previous studies, we argued that there was still a knowledge gap to fill concerning both sides of the coin, that is, the dark side and the bright side of informal networking. When migrant workers and their employers come from a NPE, they probably enter in a reciprocity relationship. Migrant workers can benefit from their employers when they look for jobs and pursue promotion. At the same time, employers can play emotional cards to persuade the migrant workers to cooperate even if they have to work overtime and intensely.
In this paper, based on the data from a 2010 survey of migrant workers in the Pearl River Delta and the Yangtze River Delta, we discussed whether there were differences between enclave workers and non-enclave workers in migrant workers' rights and interests. We divide migrant workers' rights and interests into baseline rights (BR) and development-oriented rights and interests (DR). We found that the relationship between NPE and migrant workers' rights and interests is two sides of the coin. First, the relationship between NPE and baseline rights of migrant workers, such as basic personal rights, arrears of wages, was positive. Second, enclave participation has a significant negative influence on migrant workers' development-oriented rights and interests. Compared to non-enclave workers, enclave workers were more overtime and more likely to fail to meet the minimum wage standard.
Our results implied that lack of institutional protection and dependence on informal system were very limited in improving the rights and interests of migrant workers.

Princess Wencheng in Historical Writing: The Difficulty in Narrating Ethnic History in Multi-Ethnic China

WANG Juan

2019, 39(2):  186-213. 

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For a multi-ethnic political entity, whether it is an empire or a nation-state, the key to its survival is an inclusive order under which multiple ethnic groups with different heritages coexist peacefully. Historical writing on ethnic groups and interactions among them is an important part of this order. To demonstrate the point, this paper offers an examination of three different historical narratives of Princess Wencheng. In the first narrative from Chinese classical literature, Princess Wencheng was treated as an insignificant figure and the text paid much more attention to the ceremony of the “peace marriage” than Princess' individual traits. In the second narrative from Tibetan ancient literature, the treatment was quite different. Portrayed as the incarnation of Green Tara, a tantric deity in Tibetan Buddhism, the Princess supposedly possessed Goddess qualities and magic power. This striking difference reflects the different worldviews and ideal orders of the Chinese and Tibetan civilizations. The former reveals a system of “All Under the Heaven” with China as the single center; and the latter reflects the system of Buddhism with multiple centers. The coexistence of these two worldviews is a perfect expression of the diversity and inclusiveness of the imperial system. Shaped by the nationalist discourse during the first part of the 20th century, the third narrative retold Princess Wencheng's story in the new light of nationalism, hence, she was gradually transformed into a new role of a “transmitter of technology”. The paper offers a detailed analysis of this process and its deep meanings, and a critical comment on the historical writing under the guidance of the so-called “progressive historical viewpoint” since the late Qing. The conclusion discusses a theoretical explanation of the structural dilemma of nationalism and ethnicity in modern multi-ethnic China.

Tönnies and Simmel: The Divide of Social Ethics and Cultural Ethics

ZHANG Weizhuo

2019, 39(2):  214-241. 

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As two founders of German Sociology, Ferdinand Tönnies and Georg Simmel laid the foundation of the opposite pattern of modern ethical life. Their divide of the ethical view of life stemmed from their experience of the age and the explanation of the intellectual history respectively. From the context of the natural law theory, the essence of Tönnies' social ethics is reestablishing the order and custom of modern political society, every cultural value must meet the needs of society, therefore he traces back to the social history of German people and has portrayed a new ethical life of German society by reinterpreting the family spirit. By contrast, Simmel's sociological thought made the critics of social ethics the precondition from the beginning. In his view, the scholars who share the worldview of social ethics have not noticed the fate of externalization and ambiguity of modern politics and social development. So, he regards the individual life that transcends the society as the end of the ethics. The head-on confrontation between Tönnies and Simmel begins from their interpretations of Friedrich Nietzsche's moral doctrine and then ascends to the debate on Kant's ethics. Tönnies' social ethics is the derivative of Kant's ethics, form individual rational self-discipline to collective normative psychology. Simmel believes that Kant had presupposed a pure rational other outside the individual, so he fell into the abyss of heteronomy. Tönnies' social ethics have now enlarged this paradox to the wealth position and power domination by the social authority. Thus, the social ethics obliterates the value of individual's life. Simmel thinks that life not only means individual being in the society has his full personality, but also gives birth to the objective ethical responsibilities applied to himself. From the period of the German Reich to the Weimar Republic, the divide and the converging of the social ethics and cultural ethics have provided us a principal line to understand the history of German sociological theory.