ABSTRACT
The opening up of the Chinese economy and the introduction of market socialism have resulted in major changes to social structures and stratification. In particular, the introduction of sectors of the economy beyond the state has led to not simply the growth of entrepreneurialism and business but also the expansion of the middle classes and significant changes in the working class. These and the consequences for inequality and social mobility are examined in Chapter 2. While highlighting the changes in structures afforded by economic change, it also highlights the importance of path dependence too that follows from the associational influence of the Party-state and the household registration system. As a result, occupational mobility may have increased due to marketization and urbanization, but income inequality may not have changed and social mobility has become more rigid.
