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The Making of the Chinese Middle Class

Small Comfort and Great Expectations

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  • © 2017

Overview

Authors:
  1. Jean-Louis Rocca

    1. Center for International Studies, Sciences Po, Paris, France

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  • Examines how the “problem” of the Chinese middle class has been constructed since the 1990s
  • Identifies converging phenomena of education, civilization, classification, media, and politics that contribute to the forming of the Chinese middle class
  • Considers the future potential of the Chinese middle class to enact social and political reforms

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Table of contents (6 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xiii
    Download chapter PDF

  2. Talking About the Middle Class

    • Jean-Louis Rocca
    Pages 1-19

  3. The Rise of the Social in China

    • Jean-Louis Rocca
    Pages 21-67

  4. The Making of an Ideal Class

    • Jean-Louis Rocca
    Pages 69-116

  5. The Making of a Lifestyle

    • Jean-Louis Rocca
    Pages 117-169

  6. Middle Class Politics

    • Jean-Louis Rocca
    Pages 171-226

  7. Conclusion

    • Jean-Louis Rocca
    Pages 227-250

  8. Back Matter

    Pages 251-281
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Keywords

About this book

This book analyses the making of the Chinese middle class that started in the 1990s using a constructivist approach. With the development of the Chinese economy, a new group of middle wage earners appeared. Chinese social scientists and state institutions promoted the idea that China needs a middle class to achieve modernization. Middle class members are defined—and define themselves—as good consumers, educated people, politically engaged but reasonable citizens. As such, the making of the middle class is the result of three convergent phenomena: an attempt to define the middle class, a process of civilization, and the development of protest movements. The making of the Chinese middle class, Rocca argues, is a way to end the stalemate that modern Chinese society is facing, in particular the necessity to democratize without introducing an election system.

Reviews

“A major contribution to the literature not only on the middle-class phenomenon in China, but also on the industrialized and industrializing world's understandings of class more generally. It will be useful reading for students on courses in China studies, sociology and politics, and should be mandatory for any researcher interested in social change in China, not only for its analysis and findings, but also for the richness of its source material and the sophistication of its methodology.” (David S. G. Goodman, China Quarterly Review, Vol. 231, September, 2017)


“This important contribution is the best effort yet by Western social scientists in their continuous struggle to define what being middle class means in Chinese society. … A thoughtful book worthy of further consideration. Summing Up: Recommended. All academic levels/libraries.” (W. R. Jankowiak, Choice, Vol. 54 (11), July, 2017)

Authors and Affiliations

  • Center for International Studies, Sciences Po, Paris, France

    Jean-Louis Rocca

About the author

Jean-Louis Rocca is Professor at Sciences Po, France, and Researcher at the Center for International Studies, Sciences Po, France. A specialist of Chinese society, he is the author of A Sociology of Modern China (2015) and co-author (with Françoise Mengin) of Politics in China: Moving Frontiers (2002). Rocca is member of the editorial board of The China Quarterly.

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