| Creating Market Socialism: How Ordinary People Are Shaping Class and Status in China Contributor(s): Hsu, Carolyn L. (Author) |
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ISBN: 0822340178 ISBN-13: 9780822340171 Publisher: Duke University Press OUR PRICE: $97.80 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: August 2007 Annotation: "Carolyn L. Hsu examines the narrative construction of systems of value and stratification in the transition away from socialist economic structures. This emphasis allows her to move beyond studies of stratification that are overly focused on state institutions. She demonstrates how people from all walks of life reinterpret the narratives issued from various organs of the Chinese state and how these reinterpretations affect the job choices and life strategies of individuals as well as the corporate and collective strategies of the institutions for which they work. In so doing, she makes an important contribution not only to the study of post-Mao China but also to the sociology of post-socialist societies more generally."--Andrew Kipnis, author of "China and Postsocialist Anthropology: Theorizing Power and Society after Communism" |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Social Science | Anthropology - Cultural & Social - Social Science | Social Classes & Economic Disparity - Social Science | Sociology - General |
| Dewey: 306.345 |
| LCCN: 2007006305 |
| Series: Politics, History, and Culture |
| Physical Information: 240 pages |
| Themes: - Cultural Region - Chinese |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: In the midst of China's post-Mao market reforms, the old status hierarchy is collapsing. Who will determine what will take its place? In Creating Market Socialism, the sociologist Carolyn L. Hsu demonstrates the central role of ordinary people--rather than state or market elites--in creating new institutions for determining status in China. Hsu explores the emerging hierarchy, which is based on the concept of suzhi, or quality. In suzhi ideology, human capital and educational credentials are the most important measures of status and class position. Hsu reveals how, through their words and actions, ordinary citizens decide what jobs or roles within society mark individuals with suzhi, designating them "quality people." Hsu's ethnographic research, conducted in the city of Harbin in northwestern China, included participant observation at twenty workplaces and interviews with working adults from a range of professions. By analyzing the shared stories about status and class, jobs and careers, and aspirations and hopes that circulate among Harbiners from all walks of life, Hsu reveals the logic underlying the emerging stratification system. In the post-socialist era, Harbiners must confront a fast-changing and bewildering institutional landscape. Their collective narratives serve to create meaning and order in the midst of this confusion. Harbiners collectively agree that "intellectuals" (scientists, educators, and professionals) are the most respected within the new social order, because they contribute the most to Chinese society, whether that contribution is understood in terms of traditional morality, socialist service, or technological and economic progress. Harbiners understand human capital as an accurate measure of a person's status. Their collective narratives about suzhi shape their career choices, judgments, and child-rearing practices, and therefore the new practices and institutions developing in post-socialist China. |