ABSTRACT
The appearance in strong policy terms of the middle class is one of the more intriguing aspects of social change since 1978. Chapter 6 examines the emergence of the new intermediate social strata. Many Chinese researchers have seen this phenomenon parallels with the emergence of ‘middle classes’ during phases of economic growth in developed countries. Some have even gone so far as to foresee a transformation of the political system under pressure from the middle classes assumed to be naturally liberal and democratic. In China, as elsewhere, the middle class is a collection of diverse groups whose only unity is the desire for a comfortable and increasing standard of living. Structurally though the Chinese middle classes resemble the middle strata of the Maoist era from which they have emerged. Party and government cadres, professionals, and a substantial proportion of workers and employees in former and current state enterprises have been able to maintain their social status through opportunity hoarding. They have little interest, at least for the time being, in calling into question the supremacy of the Party even if some of them are sometimes ready to protest or criticize specific policies, decisions, or actions in both politics and society.
