Social Space and Governance in Urban China
Subtitle: The Danwei System from Origins to Reform
Edition: 1 edition
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Published: March 4, 2005
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 296
ISBN-13: 9780804750387
Subjects: Local government; Work & labour; Sociology; Social Science; China; Sociology - General; Anthropology - Cultural; Social Science / Sociology / General; Danwei; Social structure; Socialism; Sociology, Urban
Description: "Centered on the urban workplace, the danwei (work unit) was the fundamental social and spatial unit of urban China under socialism. Not only was it the source of employment, wages, and other material benefits for the vast majority of urban residents, it was also the institution through which the urban population was housed, organized, regulated, policed, educated, trained, protected, and surveyed. Furthermore, as the basic unit of urban society, each danwei became a community, providing its members with identity, "face", and social belonging. With particular focus on the link between spatial forms and social organization, this book traces the origins and development of this critical institution to the present day. Recent economic restructuring has seen the danwei lose its dominant role, yet its influence still affects the possibilities for urban transformation. Moreover, the author argues, the new institutions emerging in its place display important characteristics of the old danwei system."--BOOK JACKET.