Consumption patterns of the middle class in contemporary China

Chapter 3 The Formation of the Contemporary Middle ClassIntroduction; Expansion of the Middle Class; History of the middle class; Growth of the private and the foreign economy; Development of the service sector; Renaissance of higher education; Characteristics of the Contemporary Middle Class; Conceptualising "middle class"; The middle class in contemporary China; Regional Disparities, Migration, and Housing Policy; Regional economic disparities; The history of geographical migration; Housing policy; Conclusion; Chapter 4 The Emergence of Consumer Culture; Introduction

"This book, set against the background of accounts of globalisation, aims to figure out the consumer orientation of the middle class in contemporary China, in particular how the new elements in consumer orientation operate in the Chinese context. It focuses on the contemporary middle class. Data used in the book are taken from national representative surveys conducted in the recent decade and also from 30 interviews with middle class people in Beijing. The book focuses on the consumption patterns from everyday consumption, taste and material culture. It highlights consumers' self-referential orientations: the pursuit of pleasure, tempered by considerations regarding comfort, is a significant form of aesthetic justification. Living within one's means i.e. keeping a balance between expenditure and income is the main moral justification. Consumers' orientations draw on a new set of elements, conceptualised in this research as "the orientation toward personal pleasure and comfort". This orientation is shaped by social conventions, traditional values and the metropolitan context. The findings challenge the stereotype of the Chinese "new rich" and the one-dimensional pictures of tendencies towards either conspicuous display or frugality."--