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The Political Economy of Reforms and the Remaking of the Proletarian Class in China, 1980s–2010s

Demystifying China's Society and Social Classes in the Post-Mao Era

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  • © 2023

Overview

Authors:
  1. Shan Shanne Huang

    1. United Nations Development Programme, New York, USA

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  • Focuses on the experience of workers in China's transition to a state capitalist system
  • Discusses the impact of post-Mao economic reforms on the working classes in China
  • Presents extensive case study research of a state-owned enterprise

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Economic History (PEHS)

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Table of contents (7 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xix
    Download chapter PDF

  2. Introduction

    • Shan Shanne Huang
    Pages 1-38

  3. Theories and Methodology Applied

    • Shan Shanne Huang
    Pages 39-77

  4. The Case of E Group Corporation—an SOE in Sichuan, Post-1949

    • Shan Shanne Huang
    Pages 79-109

  5. Workers’ Returning to a Proletariat Position in Post-1978

    • Shan Shanne Huang
    Pages 111-159

  6. “Nostalgia” and “Protests”: Class Consciousness and Class-For-Itself

    • Shan Shanne Huang
    Pages 161-196

  7. The Reconstruction of Classes and a Class Society in China

    • Shan Shanne Huang
    Pages 197-229

  8. Final Conclusions

    • Shan Shanne Huang
    Pages 231-235

  9. Back Matter

    Pages 237-276
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Keywords

About this book

This book comprehensively investigates the position of China’s working class between the 1980s and 2010s and considers the consequences of economic reforms in historical perspective. It argues the case that, far from the illusion during the Maoist period that a new society had been established where the working classes held greater political and economic autonomy, economic reforms in the post-Mao era have led to the return of traditional Marxist proletariats in China. The book demonstrates how the reforms of Deng Xiaoping have led to increased economic efficiency at the expense of economic equality through an extensive case study of an SOE (state-owned enterprise) in Sichuan Province as well as wider discussions of the emergence of state capitalism on both a micro and macroeconomic level. The book also discusses workers’ protests during these periods of economic reform to reflect the reformation of class consciousness in post-Mao China, drawing on Marx’s concept of a transition from a‘class-in-itself' to a ‘class-for-itself’. It will be valuable reading for students and scholars of Chinese economic and social history, as well as political economy, sociology, and politics.

Authors and Affiliations

  • United Nations Development Programme, New York, USA

    Shan Shanne Huang

About the author

​Shan Huang is a Fellow at the United Nations Development Programme in New York and a PhD candidate at King's College London, focusing on the political economy of China and Chinese economic and social history. 

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: The Political Economy of Reforms and the Remaking of the Proletarian Class in China, 1980s–2010s

  • Book Subtitle: Demystifying China's Society and Social Classes in the Post-Mao Era

  • Authors: Shan Shanne Huang

  • Series Title: Palgrave Studies in Economic History

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-20455-5

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham

  • eBook Packages: Economics and Finance, Economics and Finance (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-031-20454-8Published: 20 January 2023

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-031-20457-9Published: 20 January 2024

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-031-20455-5Published: 19 January 2023

  • Series ISSN: 2662-6497

  • Series E-ISSN: 2662-6500

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XIX, 276

  • Number of Illustrations: 2 b/w illustrations, 28 illustrations in colour

  • Topics: Economic History, History of China, Political Economy/Economic Systems, Political Philosophy

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