Chinese middle classes
Subtitle: Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao and China
By: edited by Hsin-Huang Michael Hsiao
Series: Routledge contemporary China series -- 112; Routledge contemporary China series -- 112.
Published: 2014
Language: eng
Number of pages: 268
ISBN-13: 9780415677264; 9781138120846; 9780203380086
Subjects: Social conditions; Social mobility; Middle class; History
Description: "This book uses both systematic survey data analysis and case studies to portray and compare the emerging middle classes in four ethnic-Chinese societies (Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao, and Urban China) and explores whether or not there are uniquely ethnic Chinese middle classes that can be constituted and found in these ethnic Chinese societies"--

"The formation and characteristics of a nation's middle class are shaped by historical context and the developmental path that has been followed. However, can the same be said of the ethnic Chinese middle classes in Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, and Macao? Given the divergent political and economic experiences under which the respective middle classes were created, established, shaped, and reshaped, can they still be characterized as a homogenous group of 'Chinese middle classes', or are they more unique within each country? Using systematic survey data analysis and case studies to examine and compare the emerging middle classes in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao and Urban China, this book explores whether the middle classes in these countries possess any uniquely 'Chinese' features, or if these are shared attributes that can be found in other non-Chinese middle classes in the Asia-Pacific region. It analyses the formation, profile, culture, lifestyles, mobility, and politics of the middle class groups in each country, and highlights the differences and similarities that emerge, and focuses in particular on increased mobility, financial resilience, class anxiety, and political interest and effectiveness. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars interested in Chinese studies, Chinese society, Chinese ethnicity and Chinese politics"--
Notes: First issued in paperback 2015.

Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: PART I. Overview. 1. Characterizing the middle classes in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao and urban China; title: PART II. Changing profiles. 2. Profiling the middle classes in Taiwan today; title: 3. A profile of Hong Kong's middle classes: continuities and discontinuities; title: 4. Profiling the middle classes in Macao today; title: 5. A profile of the middle classes in today's China; title: PART III. Emerging ethos and lifestyles. 6. Getting uneasy: the changing psychology of Hong Kong's middle classes; title: 7. Comparing socio-economic attitudes of the middle classes in Taiwan and Hong Kong; title: 8. Homemaking and middle class formation in urban China; title: PART IV. Mobility. 9. Taiwanese middle classes in Shanghai: causes and consequences of skilled migration; title: 10. Professional mainlanders in Hong Kong: profile, prospect and problem; title: 11. Reality and expectations: social mobility of the Macao middle classes; title: PART V. New politics? 12. The political ambiguity of middle class activism in Taiwan: the case of urban conservationists in Kaohsiung city; title: 13. The emergence of middle classes in today's urban China: will they contribute to democratization in China?; title: 14. The making of Hong Kong's middle class in the 1997 transition and beyond: a conflict perspective.