Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book aims to shed light on the sociology of punishment in China in the context of the state's socio-cultural transformations over the last 70 years or so. It presents a socio-legal analysis of China's modern penal system. It not only touches the legal debate of punishment in terms of its legislative and policy transformations, but also provides a sociological account of penality to discern its association with a range of social changes that have occurred in the fields of economy, politics and culture over the past 70 years. The book suggests that even though the structure and form of punishment in China have shifted in important ways since the Maoist era, the most significant change lies in the state's distinctive cultural meanings and social relations that give rise to them. It concerns arguments on penal punitiveness and its variations in contemporary China.