Class and the Communist Party of China, 1978-2021

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's (CCP's) impact on social change in China between 1978 and 2021. This book explores in depth the CCP's programme 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, while 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.

Marc Blecher is James Monroe Professor of Politics and East Asian Studies at Oberlin College, USA. David S. G. Goodman is Professor of Chinese Politics and Director of the China Studies Centre at the University of Sydney, Australia. Yingjie Guo is Professor of Chinese Studies at the University of Sydney, Australia. Jean-Louis Rocca is a professor and researcher at the Center for International Studies, Sciences Po Paris, France. Beibei Tang is Senior Associate Professor in the Department of China Studies at Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, China.

Introduction: Class, Stratification, Market Socialism, David S G Goodman  1. Class in Themselves and Classes for Themselves: Social Consciousness Divorced from Social Existence  2. Class and Social Mobility: Stratification and Social Change since 1978  3. The Performance of Class: Lifestyles and Behaviour  4. The Peasant Class under the Impact of Industrialisation, Urbanisation, and Household Registration  5. Economic Growth and Working Class Decline: Structural reform and social change after 1978  6. The Middle Class in Reforming China: The dream of a classless society  7. The Dominant Class after 1978: Elite Persistence and the Ironies of Social Change