The Making of the Chinese Middle Class: Small Comfort and Great Expectations [Paperback]

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 definedand define themselvesas 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.Introduction: Talking about the Middle Class .- 1. The Rise of the Social in China .- 2. The Making of an Ideal Class .- 3. The Making of a Lifestyle .- 4. Middle Class Politics .- Conclusion.This important contribution is the best effort yet by Western social scientists in their continuous struggle to define what being middle class means in Chinese society. & A thoughtful book worthy of further consideration. Summing Up: Recommended. All academic levels/libraries. (W. R. Jankowiak, Choice, Vol. 54 (11), July, 2017)&ll£½