Class in Contemporary China

David S. G. Goodman is Academic Director of the China Studies Centre at the University of Sydney, where he is Professor of Chinese Politics. He is also Professor in the School of Social and Behavioural Sciences at Nanjing University.

• Tables viiMaps viiiChronology xPreface xiiiAbbreviations, Measures and Note on Chinese Names and Transliteration xvi1 Introduction: Understanding Class in China 1Understanding China and class 5Revolutionary class analysis 9The bourgeoisie within the Party 17Class by ideology; class by occupation 22Analysing class in contemporary China 282 Social Stratification under Reform 34Markers of change 35Rural-urban relations 40Reform and inequality 45Stratification and class 54The emergent class structure 583 The Dominant Class 64The political elite 67The economic elite 74Power and wealth 824 The Middle Classes 92Considering the middle class 94Size and wealth 100The aspirational middle class 109The intermediate middle classes 1165 The Subordinate Classes 122Public-sector workers 128Workers in the non-public sector 135Peasants 1436 The Political Economy of Change 149Market transition 149Democratization 153A new working class 160Peasant activism 166Inequality and regime legitimacy 1727 Conclusion: Inequality and Class 177Inequality 181Class 186Bibliography 191Index 221

Choice Outstanding Academic Title for 2015"Class in Contemporary China has done a noble job in what is an extremely complicated and diffused subject. Goodman has managed to piece together a survey of disparate understandings of class and bring them into a coherent portrait, taking the studies and analysing them in detail. It is an absorbing look, given the tremendous change in China that is also changing the world."LSE Review of Books"Goodman has an eagle eye for what is crucial in China's development. His analysis of the important but under-appreciated role of class and class analysis in modern China should be mandatory reading. The book provides a vital contribution to our understanding of continuity and change in China."Anthony Saich, Harvard Kennedy School"Class is at the basis of the Chinese Communist revolution, yet today's China is a world away from the class-based politics of the Mao era. In this highly readable and meticulously researched book, David Goodman gives readers a powerful account of what precisely class means in today's China and why it matters. From the emergent middle class to the new classes that make up China's working population, the analysis gives detail that reveals just how complex class has become. The book brings together Goodman's interdisciplinary skills as a historian and political scientist, and it draws from the latest cutting-edge data from within China itself. On a crucial issue shaping China in the twenty-first century, this is a must-read book."Rana Mitter, University China Centre, University of Oxford"David Goodman provides a comprehensive and admirably succinct overview of a complex subject with a voluminous literature. This excellent book provides all the tools needed to contextualise and analyse these changes, including a concise theoretical discussion, an overview of class under Mao and, during the reform era, an analysis of the dominant, middle and subordinate classes and a thoughtful discussion about class and the growing economic inequalities in China. I highly recommend it to students and scholars of contemporary Chinese economics, politics and society."Political Studies Review "This book combines a complete picture of the class structure in twentieth-century China, an analysis of the social effects of thirty years of economic reforms that created a socialist market economy, an evaluation of the ongoing political effects of the restructuring of Chinese society, and a general contribution to the theory of social class and social change. […] The book certainly represents a useful work tool for the newcomer who wants to understand the foundations of the structure and dynamics of class relations in China; but this remarkable overview is above all indispensable reading for those who wish to break with methodological nationalism and to internationalize the sociological discussion of social class."Lectures