A survey of contemporary Chinese intellectuals.Zhidong Hao's fascinating book, Intellectuals at a Crossroads, examines groups of contemporary Chinese intellectuals, their successes, failures, identity contradictions, and ethical dilemmas. Three categories of intellectuals are studied: organic intellectuals who serve specific interests, from government and business to working class movements; critical intellectuals who defy authority with continued social criticism; and "unattached" intellectuals who are fast being professionalized. Using a historical-comparative approach enhanced with demographic and rare interview data, the book bridges the traditional with the modern and the Chinese with the foreign by exploring how these intellectuals are adapting to their roles and influencing political, economic, and social change in the "new" China.
Zhidong Hao is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Whittier College.
List of Tables and Figures List of Abbreviations Foreword by Merle Goldman Preface Acknowledgments 1. Introduction: Toward a Political Sociology of China's Intellectuals Four Types of Intellectuals and Four Political RolesThe Ideological Foundations of Intellectuals' Political RolesEthical Dilemmas Facing IntellectualsThe Chinese Intellectual: A TypologyConclusions 2. From Uniformity to Fragmentation: Intellectuals in the Mao Era (1949–1976) and in the First Deng Period (1977–1989) A High Degree of Uniformity with Limited Resistance: The Mao Era (1949–1976)The Beginnings of Fragmentation: First Period of the Deng Era (1977–1989)Conclusions 3. Critical Intellectuals The Social Environment after 1989The Critical Intellectual Discourses The Democracy MovementOther Social Critics: Some ExamplesConclusions: the Politics of Critical Intellectuals 4. Bourgeoisified and Professionalized Intellectuals The Bourgeoisification of IntellectualsThe Professionalization of Intellectuals 5. Social Class and Organic Intellectuals Class and Class Structure in FormationOrganic IntellectualsConclusions: Contradictory Class Locations of Organic Intellectuals 6. Intellectuals as a Class Are Intellectuals a Class?Chinese Intellectuals as a ClassThe Elitist Flaw of the Intellectual ClassConclusions 7. Summary and Conclusion: The Future of China's Intellectuals The Changing Politics of China's Knowledge WorkersThe Future of China's Intellectuals Appendix: A Note on the Concept of the Intellectual Transition from Literati to Intellectuals: The Chinese StoryTransition from Philosophers to Intellectuals: The Western StoryDefinitions of the Modern Intellectual Notes Bibliography Index of Chinese Names and Phrases Subject and Name Index
