2007 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Comparative Sociological Approaches to Changing Social Stratification in Contemporary China
| Project/Area Number |
16402030
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 海外学術 |
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| Research Field |
Sociology
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| Research Institution | Waseda University (2005-2007)
Chuo University (2004) |
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Principal Investigator |
SONODA Shigeto Waseda University, Graduate School of Asia-Pacific Studies, Professor (10206683)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2004 – 2007
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| Keywords | contemporary China / changing social stratification / comparative study / survey / social injustice / education |
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| Research Abstract |
In this year, or final year of the four-year project, I tried to devote all energy into writing papers and making presentations by using the date I collected by last year.
I made presentation, for example, in 17th Annual Meeting of Chinese Sociological Association as an invited speaker under the title of "Two Types of Urban New Middle Classes in Confucian Asia?" which points out that there are two types of urban new middle classes in Asia by using the data of Asia Barometer 2006. The second round 4-city survey enabled me to make presentation at the Center for the Study of Social Stratification and Inequality at Tohoku University under the title of "Social Inequality and Injustice in Developing China : Some Empirical Observations."
On 2nd of November, I organized an international symposium on "Changing Social Stratification and Urban Governance in Contemporary China" and invited four Chinese sociologists who took part in the 2nd round four city survey in each city.
Through these activities, we could get the following research results.
1) Income discrepancy, mainly due to the different level of educational attainment has been widened. Urban residents' evaluation on income inequality has become severer than 7 years ago which contributed to the increase of the sense of overall social injustice.
2) Due to positive evaluations to educational attainment by urban residents, however, educational inequality has not been taken seriously.
3) New rich group shifted from those working for private enterprises and foreign sectors in 1990s to those working for state sectors in 2000s, which is promoting "internalization" of developmental engines. Those elites in state sectors have come to occupy high academic career(cultural capital), big power(political capital), and high income(economic capital), which is a challenging force to the former socialist regime.
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