The New Middle Class

Schedule:
Tuesday, July 5th, 2011, from 9 a.m. to 12 noon
3744, Jean-Brillant Street, room 580-32 (5th floor)

Summary:
After three decades of strong economic growth, a large middle class is rapidly emerging in large cities. Although it is still difficult to measure against the criteria traditionally used, all observers agree that it will have a very important impact on many national (evolution of the growth model, democratization of the regime) and international (integration of China into the global governance system, global warming) trends. The conference will present the main debates around the emergence of the Chinese middle class and the implications for the political and economic evolution of China.

Lecturer:
Jean-François Huchet has been director of the French Centre for Research on Contemporary China (CEFC) in Hong Kong and director of the journal China Perspectives/Perspectives chinoises since September 2006. A lecturer in economics at the University of Rennes 2 and lecturer on the Chinese economy at INALCO and at EHESS in Paris from 2001 to 2006, he lived in Asia from 1987 to 2001, where he held various academic positions (at the Franco-Japanese House in Tokyo, the French Centre for Research on Contemporary China (CEFC) in Hong Kong and Peking University). He is the author of numerous articles and books on economic reforms in China, particularly on state sector reforms. He is also co-author of several books, most recently with Wang Wei, Chinese Firms In The Era of Globalisation (in Chinese and English), Beijing, Zhongguo Chubanshe fazhan, 2008, 293 pp., and with Joel Ruet and Xavier Richet (eds.), Globalization of firms in China, India and Russia, Academic Foundation, New Delhi, April 2007, 363 p.

Guest speaker:
Zhiming Chen has studied in Peking University, Tokyo University, and Yale University. He is now Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Montreal. His interests include Chinese politics and foreign policy, Asian and global security, theories of international relations, grand strategy, game theory and quantitative methods, etc. He was trained in Chinese fine arts and has a passion for languages: Cantonese, Mandarin, English, Spanish, Japanese, Arabic, French, and is now studying German. He appears regularly in major media.

Mandatory readings:
 GOODMAN, David S. G. "Why China has no middle class: cadres, managers and entrepreneurs". In The new rich in China : future rulers, present lives, David S. G. Goodman (ed.), pp. 23-37. London; New York: Routledge, 2008.
 LI, Cheng. "Introduction: The Rise of the Middle Class in the Middle Kingdom". In China’s emerging middle class: beyond economic transformation, Cheng Li (ed.), pp. 3-31. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press, 2010.

Suggested readings:
 CHOON-PIEW, Pow. Gated communities in China: class, privilege and the moral politics of the good life. London; New York: Routledge, 2009. (Chapters 1, 2, and 3, pp. 1-52)
 CHUNLING, Li. "Characterizing China’s Middle Class: Heterogeneous Composition and Multiple Identities". In China’s emerging middle class: beyond economic transformation, Cheng Li (ed.), pp. 135-156. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press, 2010.
 ELFICK, Jacqueline. "Sex, Television and the Middle Class on China". In Patterns of middle class consumption in India and China, Christophe Jaffrelot and Peter van der Veer (eds.), pp. 207-229. Los Angeles: SAGE, 2008.
 GOODMAN, David S. G. et Xiaowei ZANG. "The New Rich In China: the dimensions of social change". In The new rich in China: future rulers, present lives, David S. G. Goodman (ed.), pp. 1-20. London; New York: Routledge, 2008.
 GUO, Yingjie. "Class, stratum and group: the politics of description and prescription". In The new rich in China: future rulers, present lives, David S. G. Goodman (ed.), pp. 38-52. London; New York: Routledge, 2008.
 HO, Puay-peng. "Consuming Art in Middle Class China". In Patterns of middle class consumption in India and China, Christophe Jaffrelot and Peter van der Veer (eds.), pp. 277-291. Los Angeles: SAGE, 2008.
 LI, Cheng. "Chinese Scholarship in the Middle Class: From Social Stratification to Political Potential". In China’s emerging middle class: beyond economic transformation, Cheng Li (ed.), pp. 55-83. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press, 2010.
 NYÍRI, Pál. "A Requiem for Songpan, or One More about China’s Civilizing Mission". In Patterns of middle class consumption in India and China, Christophe Jaffrelot and Peter van der Veer (eds.), pp. 140-156. Los Angeles: SAGE, 2008.
 ROCCA, Jean-Louis. "Power of Knowledge: The Imaginary Formation of the Chinese Middle Stratum in an Era of Growth and Stability". In Patterns of middle class consumption in India and China, Christophe Jaffrelot and Peter van der Veer (eds.), pp. 127-139. Los Angeles: SAGE, 2008.
 ZANG, Xiaowei. "Market transition, wealth and status claims". In The new rich in China: future rulers, present lives, David S. G. Goodman (ed.), pp. 53-70. London; New York: Routledge, 2008.
 ZHOU, Xiaohong. "Chinese Middle Class : Reality of Illusion?". In Patterns of middle class consumption in India and China, Christophe Jaffrelot and Peter van der Veer (eds.), pp. 110-126. Los Angeles: SAGE, 2008.
 ZHOU, Xun. "Eat, Drink and Sing, and Be Modern and Global: Food, Karaoke and ‘Middle Class’ Consumers in China". In Patterns of middle class consumption in India and China, Christophe Jaffrelot and Peter van der Veer (eds.), pp. 157-169. Los Angeles: SAGE, 2008.