1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910645890103321

Autore

Huang Shan

Titolo

The Political Economy of Reforms and the Remaking of the Proletarian Class in China, 1980s–2010s : Demystifying China's Society and Social Classes in the Post-Mao Era / / by Shan Shanne Huang

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Cham : , : Springer International Publishing : , : Imprint : Palgrave Macmillan, , 2023

ISBN

3-031-20455-7

Edizione

[1st ed. 2023.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (284 pages)

Collana

Palgrave Studies in Economic History, , 2662-6500

Disciplina

322.20951

338.951009045

Soggetti

Economic history

Economics

Marxian school of sociology

Economic History

History of China

Political Economy and Economic Systems

Marxist Sociology

China History

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di contenuto

1. Introduction -- 2. Theories and Methodology Applied -- 3. The Case of E Group Corporation – An SOE in Sichuan, post-1949 -- 4. Workers’ Returning to a Proletarian Position in post-1978 -- 5. Nostalgia” and “Protests”: Class Consciousness and Class-for-itself  -- 6. Reconstruction of Classes and Class Society in China 7. Final Conclusions -- 8. Appendices.

Sommario/riassunto

This path-breaking book unveils the true colour of China’s dominant socio-economic structure today. The author’s unique case study convincingly demonstrates the propeller behind China’s recent ‘miracle growth’. With this book, a new line of investigation can be expected to better understand post-Mao China. - Professor Kent Deng, London School of Economics, UK Shan Huang's study uses unique, in depth field research of the lives of workers in a state enterprise and their



perception of their changed economic and political status over the era of the economic reforms since the 1980s. This work is based on intimate engagement with a specific case study, offering new insights into the development of modern China. - Professor Kerry Brown, King’s College London, UK This book comprehensively investigates the position of China’s working class between the 1980s and 2010s. It argues the case that, far from the illusion during the Maoist period that a new society had been established where the working classes held greater political and economic autonomy, economic reforms in the post-Mao era have led to the return of traditional Marxist proletariats in China. The book demonstrates how the reforms of Deng Xiaoping have led to increased economic efficiency at the expense of economic equality through an extensive case study of an SOE (state-owned enterprise) in Sichuan Province as well as wider discussions of the emergence of state capitalism on both a micro and macroeconomic level. The book also discusses workers’ protests during these periods of economic reform to reflect the reformation of class consciousness in post-Mao China, drawing on Marx’s concept of a transition from a ‘class-in-itself' to a ‘class-for-itself’. Shan Huang is a Fellow at the United Nations Development Programme in New York and a PhD candidate at King's College London, focusing on the political economy of China and Chinese economic and social history. .