Culture and Privilege in Capitalist Asia - Jurusan Antropologi ...

CHRISTOPHER BUCKLEY 215
Table 8.2 Average monthly income by occupational class and other major variables for
working respondents (N=1128)*
Note:
*Respondents presently unemployed or out of the workforce have been excluded.
influence and privilege, this did not translate into striking financial or material
inequalities. A considerable body of research has shown that during the Maoist era
from 1949 to the end of the 1970s, urban Chinese society was extremely
egalitarian compared to other societies, even other socialist societies (Parish and
Whyte 1984). Thus, understanding the social and cultural identity of the new rich in
urban China cannot be based on comparisons with an ‘old rich’ class; rather, it
must be based on comparisons with other, less wealthy groups in Chinese society.
If we compare the social characteristics of the ‘new rich’ in our survey sample
with the rest of the sample, a striking difference emerges: in terms of all resources,
they are significantly better endowed than the rest of the population. In this highincome
group, 53 per cent have tertiary-level schooling and are highly concentrated
in administrative (25 per cent) and professional (32 per cent) jobs. Also a relatively
high proportion (37.8 per cent as compared to 38.9 per cent of medium-and 19.2
per cent of lower-income respondents) are members of the Chinese Communist