The middle class in contemporary urban china: construction, practices and representations
- Autores: Alfonso Sánchez Romera
- Directores de la Tesis: Joaquín Beltrán Antolín (dir. tes.), Amelia Sáiz López (codir. tes.)
- Lectura: En la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona ( España ) en 2020
- Idioma: inglés
- ISBN: 9788449098079
- Títulos paralelos:
- La classe mitjana a la xina urbana contemporània: construcció, pràctiques i representacions
- Tribunal Calificador de la Tesis: Mª Isabel Esteban Rodriguez (presid.), Artur Lozano Méndez (secret.), Neil Munro (voc.)
- Programa de doctorado: Programa de Doctorado en Traducción y Estudios Interculturales por la Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona
- Materias:
- Enlaces
- Tesis en acceso abierto en: TDX
- Resumen
This research aims to explore the social phenomenon of the Chinese middle class, with particular focus on the social construction of identity by analysing social practices and representations in contemporary urban China. The study is framed in the analysis of semi-structured interviews collected in Beijing between 2017 and 2018, the official discourse of the Chinese middle class through the amendments to the Chinese Constitution, the main texts and speeches of the Party-state leaders and, finally, the content of articles on middle class published on Renmin Wang (People’s Daily online) —the mouthpiece of Central Committee of the Communist Party of China— since the early 21st century. Therefore, the aim of this research is not only to provide a categorical example of the social construction of identity within Beijing’s middle class, but also to explore the social field in Contemporary urban China as a multidimensional space of social mobility, new social practices and representations —that is, new lifestyles. While these observations have been derived by employing a conceptual schema associated with the work of Pierre Bourdieu, some results obtained question his conceptualization of “real class” and his formulation on homogeneous conditions of class as homogeneous systems of dispositions capable of generating similar practices. As a result, this study has discovered a number of defining characteristics that indicate that the formation of the middle-classes groups in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) constitutes a social reproduction phenomenon rather than a class formation process. Moreover, the findings of the case study undertaken in Beijing are also supportive of the thesis of a cleavage society or the so-called class crystallization is maintained primarily through consumption —that is, economic capital—, but not through a recognizable ‘class’ identity or ‘real class’. Also, this study has shown that domestic migration in the PRC is also a form of lifestyle consumption, a suzhi (‘quality’) practice and a way to fashion oneself as a middle-class, civilized and modern subject. However, a middle-class identity is progressively constructed in urban China not only through consumption practices but also through the experience of participating in new activities in their neighbourhood life based on principles of openness, publicity and solidarity, and also in collective action against violation of their private-property rights as homeowners. Besides, the research revealed the validity and the configuration of the concept of class —together with racialization, gender and sexuality— to produce an accurate representation of the institutionalization, legitimatization and reproduction of both inequality and privilege in contemporary societies.
