Market Transition, Industrialization, and Social Mobility Trends in Postrevolution China

Author
Publication Year
2019

Type

Journal Article
Abstract

This study examines trends in intergenerational class mobility in China by analyzing six comparable, nationally representative surveys between 1996 and 2012. Defying a simplistic, unidirectional account, the authors report two countervailing trends in social mobility in post- revolution China. On the one hand, the authors find a decline in social fluidity following China’s transition from state socialism to a market economy, as the link between origin and destination in vertical social status has significantly strengthened. On the other hand, horizontal mobility between the agricultural and nonagricultural sectors has in- creased substantially during recent decades. To put these trends in a global context, the authors compare China’s experience with those in 11 advanced industrial countries. The authors find that despite its re- cent decline, social fluidity in China is still high by international stan- dards. Yet, the direction of vertical social mobility trends in China stands in contrast with that in mature capitalist countries, in which the class structure has either stayed stable or become more open over time.

Journal
American Journal of Sociology
Volume
124
Issue
6
Pages
1810-1847
Date Published
05/2019