ABSTRACT
Social class is a highly contested notion in contemporary Chinese society because of its historical development. Nevertheless, one can observe the progressive formation of new social groups and hear articulation of class-consciousness in everyday social practices (Lu 2002; Li 2007a, 2007b). A case in point here is that after 30 years of accelerated economic growth, a sizable new ‘middle class’ is emerging as a social layer in China, often consisting of people who have relocated to the country’s urban centres such as Beijing and Shanghai with higher academic or professional qualifications. Given the peculiar historical development of China’s social classes, it can be problematic to identify them using ‘hard’ criteria such as income, occupation, education, and social origin. Consequently, ‘soft’ criteria, such as semiotic resources, lifestyle, and taste, offer alternative perspectives on and insights into social classification. This chapter investigates the deployment of semiotic resources by a group of highly mobile ‘elite migrants’, in an attempt to understand social change and class (re)stratification that characterise contemporary Chinese society.
