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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.

Jean-Louis Rocca's admirably concise Sociology of Modern China wears its scholarship lightly and paints an intimate and complex portrait of Chinese society, all the while avoiding clichés and simplifications. He delves into China's history and examines the country's many different social strata so as to better understand the enormous challenges and opportunities with which its people are confronted.

There has been little systematic research on corruption in China. Analyses so far often only reveal various cases of corruption and conclude by commenting on the retrograde aspect of the Chinese state. Work of this nature also tends to be too static – not considering the historical and cultural dimensions of politics – and too superficial – just concentrating on anecdotal aspects of corruption. As a result, one could quite simply conclude that what is required is a Weberian bureaucracy, which would be both rational and efficient, though without explaining how this should come about.However, in the light of works dealing with the shifting role of the state in societies which are undergoing change, the causes and nature of the phenomenon of "corruption" in China can be reassessed.

The author points out that there has been little systematic research on corruption in China. Analysis so far often only reveal various cases of corruption and conclude by commenting on the retrograde aspect of the Chinese state. Using works dealing with the shifting role of the state in societies which are undergoing change, he (the author) reassesses the causes and nature of the phenomenon of "corruption" in China. (DÜI-Sen)

1. The CCP's Shifting Class Discourse: The Objectivity, Subjectivity and Utility of ClassYingjie Guo2. Learning to Live with Social Change: The Communist Party of China, Class and MobilisationDavid S G Goodman3. Between Revolution and Reform: Class, Class Struggle, and Land Redistribution Yingjie Guo 4. The Communist Party of China, Working Class and Social Change, 1920-1949 Marc Blecher5. Class as a Political Tool in Rural China: The Middle Peasant in the War of Resistance to Japan, 1937-1945 David S G Goodman6. Radical Politics and the apotheosis of the working class, 1949-1978 Marc Blecher7. Emergence without settling: the trajectory of the Chinese middle class from 1949 to the 1980s Jean-Louis Rocca8. The Dominant Class in a Changing Polity: Transformation and InstitutionalisationDavid S G Goodman

"By examining the changing political economy in China through detailed studies of the peasantry, workers, middle classes, and the dominant class, this volume reveals the Communist Party of China [CCP]'s impact on social change in China between 1978-2021. This book explores in depth the CCP's program of reform and openness that had a dramatic impact on China's socio-economic trajectory following the death of Mao Zedong and the end of the Cultural Revolution. It also goes on to chart the acceptance of Market Socialism, highlighting the resulting emergence of a larger middle class, whilst also appreciating the profound consequences this created for workers and peasants. Additionally, this volume examines the development of the dominant class which remains a defining feature of China's political economy and the Party-state. Providing an in-depth analysis of class as understood by the CCP in conjunction with sociological interpretations of socio-economic and socio-political change, this study will be of interest to students and scholars of Chinese Politics, Chinese History, Asian Politics and Asian studies"--

Pt.1: Economic perspectives and state-owned enterprise reform Naughton, Barry: State enterprise restructuring : renegotiating the social compact in urban China Fan Gang: China's "Compatible opening" : lessons from the Asian crisis Part 2: Reshaping the social compact in urban China Fernández-Stembridge, Leila: Stabilizing potential instability : re-employment in today's China Rocca, Jean-Louis: Old working class, new working class : reforms, labour crisis and the two faces of conflicts in Chinese urban areas Hook, Brian: The development of the urban housing market : social implications Part 3: Social conflicts, control and cohesion Bakken, Borge: Norms, police and the problems of control Fisac, Taciana: Social anomie and political discourse in contemporary China Nieto, Gladys: Overseas Chinese associations building up a national identity : specific cases in Spain Part 4: Nation building and collective identities Meißner, Werner: Collective identity and nationalism in Europe and China Tsang, Steve: The rise of a Hong Kong identity Chu Yun-Han; Lin Chia-Lung: Consolidating Taiwan's new democracy amid competing national identities