Programme full

Social Divisions/Social Identities 1
M228, GEORGE MOORE BUILDING
Wednesday 15 April 2015 09:00 - 10:30
PAPER SESSION 1
SOCIAL STRATIFICATION AND INEQUALITIES: COMPARISON BETWEEN CHINA AND THE UK
Unprecedented changes are taking places in contemporary societies such as China, Britain and many other countries.
Along with the rapid socio-economic development, new forms of social inequalities are emerging but the long-standing
sociological issue of social advantages and disadvantages remains. In the case of China, social inequalities and social
segregations, in particular between urban and rural regions and between different socio-economic groups, have
become more significant and even begun to hinder the country from sustainable development. This session is devoted
to exploring the nature, manifestation and extent of such emergent inequalities in the most rapidly developing (China)
and in the well-developed (European) countries. Topics range from the social mobility processes of ethnic minority
groups across four generations in the UK, the pattern of social mobility over three generations in the UK, the socioeconomic
underpinning of people’s subjective wellbeing in China, and mechanisms of social inequalities and sociopolitical
attitudes in China. This session provides a good opportunity to understand and rethink the tremendous social
changes in transitional societies like China and also to enhance the understanding of the mechanisms of social
stratification with a comparative and generational perspective. This session is linked with another session on new
consumption phenomenon in China.
The Social Inequalities in the Process of Urbanization in China: The Reality and Institutions
Chen, G.
(Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)
In the process of urbanization in contemporary China, the social inequalities exist in almost all aspects of the social
life. This paper will firstly make a comprehensive analysis on the reality of social inequalities in China; and then it will
attempt to analyse systematically the institutional factors which make contributions to these inequalities; thirdly, it will
discuss the impacts of the institutional inequalities and inequalities invoked by institutional arrangements on the
urbanization itself; finally, it will attempt to discuss the directions of and roads to institutional changes in order to
reduce social inequalities and make the process of urbanization more desirable for Chinese people. The excessive
social inequalities, substantially speaking, are deeply rooted in the system of economic, social and political institutions
and policies of contemporary China. In the final analysis, two sets of fundamental institutions decide that the whole
system of institutions cannot effectively play the role to reduce the social inequalities or even sometimes exacerbate
the situation of social inequalities: the first set consist of so-called dual social institutions based on the distinction
between the rural and urban areas; the second set includes the distinctive market institutions and related policies
which are, at some extent, more favorable for the capital than for the labor.
The Relationship between Economic Status and Subjective Well-being: An Investigation of the Chinese
Happiness Paradox
Zhao, Y.
(University of Manchester)
Subjective wellbeing (SWB) is a complex psychological phenomenon and is affected by multiple factors, among which
economic conditions are argued to be one of the most crucial determinants. Existing studies have shown that in
developing countries that have relative low living standards, economic growth will facilitate a significant improvement
in people's SWB. However, the massive growth in material living standards during China's market transition process
has had little effect on Chinese SWB, a phenomenon that has been called the 'Chinese happiness paradox'. Many
previous studies have explored the role of economic factors in accounting for this paradox, but they have mainly
focused on the sole indicator of income or relative income and generally failed to consider how the relationship might
be influenced by changes in the socioeconomic environment in which people live in.
This research uses multiple indicators to formulate a better measurement of economic status, and employs a
multilevel modelling framework to examine the effect of socioeconomic environment. Based on the data of Chinese
General Social Survey 2003, the analysis shows an individual's economic status has a significant positive impact on
SWB, though different indicators of economic status are shown to vary in their strength and pattern of influence.
Furthermore, the results imply that the market transition process in China has had a negative impact on people's
SWB, but individuals' economic status does not show a stronger relationship with SWB level under conditions of
increasing marketization. There is an inverted U-shape relationship between economic status and happiness.
75 BSA Annual Conference 2015
Glasgow Caledonian University