The Making of the Chinese Middle Class

Small Comfort and Great Expectations

Jean-Louis Rocca

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9781137393388
• eBook ISBN: 9781137393395
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: City Planning & Urban Development
• Index: Politics & International Relations

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.

Table of contents

• Dedication
• Acknowledgments
• Contents
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• Chapter 1: Talking About the Middle Class
• Chapter 2: The Rise of the Social in China
• Chapter 3: The Making of an Ideal Class
• Chapter 4: The Making of a Lifestyle
• Chapter 5: Middle Class Politics
• Chapter 6: Conclusion
• References
• Index