University of Victoria

Social Policies in Transitional China

The 30-odd years of socioeconomic transition in China brought about many challenges to individuals, communities, social groups, and the nation as a whole. Various reforms led by the central government had different results – some are successful, some are somewhat successful, and others failed. Scholars around the world, particularly those of sociologists and political scientists, are paying close attention to China’s social policy changes and the outcomes of those policies’ implementation, and their impact on individuals’ lives. There are questions asked, such as: Why some policies seem never being changed, but some policies have to change constantly? Who is in, who is out – Who are the new policies’ main beneficiaries and who would have to suffer the consequences of the new change? Why? How can a country that has achieved economic miracle seem to fell a bit short in the sphere of social policy? What are the barriers? Are there ways in which these obstacles can be removed and that much improved policies will one day be reality? This session will invite scholars interested in the field to share their works on China’s recent social policy reforms and their policy recommendations in employment/labour policy, health policy, education policy, ethnic policy; and policies that concerning rural-urban migrants, such as Hukou, etc.

Session Chair: Harley Dickinson, University of Saskatchewan

Session Organizer: Weizhen Dong, Department of Sociology and Legal Studies University of Waterloo, weizhen@uwaterloo.ca

Ethnic Policy in China

Wei Xing, University of Winnipeg, w.xing@uwinnipeg.ca

This paper systematically reviews China’s policy on ethnic minorities. Despite its Confucianism-roots, historical tradition and practice of “culturalization” of ethnic minorities, China adopted the ethnic policies of the former USSR since the early 1950s. This socialist ethnic policy grants ethnic minority members with prestigious political status for achieving “equality de facto”. In almost all social domains, specific policies have been designed and implemented in favor of minorities at both group and individual level. The “Ethnicity Recognition Campaign” (1950s-1980s) identified cultural minority groups; and the regulations for individual “ethnic status” identification distinguish ethnic minority members from the Han majority in daily lives. More importantly, the planned economy system secures the power of the government to allocate resources of all kinds for the wellbeing of ethnic minorities. Consequentially, the implementation of this ethnic policy, on one hand, has effectively improved ethnic equality; on the other hand, the institutional identification of ethnic groups and individuals and granting them distinguished entitlements also, to some degree, have reinforced ethnic boundaries, enhanced ethnic consciousness, strengthened ethnic identity, and led to desire for ethnic “self- govern”.

Tuesday June 4, 2013 01:30 PM - 03:00 PM Building: Elliott Building, Room: E-061

Housing and Social Security Policies in Shanghai and St Petersburg

Xiaowen Lu, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, lxw@sass.org.cn

Under the planned economic system, China and the former Soviet Union both adopted universal welfare housing policies, treating housing as public property. Housing marketization began in China in 1990s, and the progress was very fast. The main pattern of Chinese urban families was to obtain housing and improve the housing condition from the open real estate market; however, drawbacks of rapidly rising house prices and excessive marketization begin to appear. As a result, both the China national and Shanghai local governments formulated new social policies to better address the needs of low-income families. Under the enormous economic reforms in Russia, all public housing was transferred to families, but some social security functions of housing were maintained and consolidated. A pattern that social welfare and open-market existing side by side was adopted. Under the influence of different economic development situations and different social policies, the housing situations of main cities in China and Russia show their own features. Keeping the proper balance between the open-market and welfare is a common problem in improving the housing conditions in both nations.

This paper will be presented by Dr. Dunja Miskovic, University of Waterloo.

Tuesday June 4, 2013 01:30 PM - 03:00 PM Building: Elliott Building, Room: E-061

China’s New Engine of Growth and New Urban Dwellers’ Wellbeing

Weizhen Dong, Department of Sociology and Legal Studies University of Waterloo, weizhen@uwaterloo.ca

The global economy increasingly depends on China for growth in recent decades. The recent world-wide economic slowdown, however, has hurt Chinese exports, which have been its main source of growth for decades. China is now being forced to find new engines for its economic development. Boosting domestic consumption is an obvious answer. China’s economic expansion in recent decades has made it the 2nd largest economy in the world. However, this new wealth has not benefited all Chinese citizens evenly. Some social groups have been visibly left behind. The largest such group in urban China is migrant workers and their families. This paper aims to analysis the relationship between this group’s overall wellbeing and China’s sustainable development.

Tuesday June 4, 2013 01:30 PM - 03:00 PM Building: Elliott Building, Room: E-061

Uprooting indigenous societies: Resettled Tibetan communities in China

Luo Jia, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education/University of Toronto , l.jia@mail.utoronto.ca , Paul Olso, Professor of Humanities, Social Sciences & Social Justice Education (HSSSJE) at Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, paul.olson@utoronto.ca

For the last several years Chinese social development policy in culturally Tibetan regions, such as ‘new village development’, has resulted in a ‘politics of creativity’ whereby some policies have led to negative social consequences. For example, the resettling of rural herdspeople and their communities beside major highways has meant a major restructuring of aspects of Tibetan life including education and healthcare. A significant result of this has been the gradual dilution of Tibetan culture as Tibetan communities are merged with ethnic Han ones. This presentation takes a sociological and communications perspective on imagining a ‘politics of creativity’ in displaced communities. This paper is based on a critical field-work in Tibetan communities in Gansu Province, China. We focus on how prominent Tibetan clans, despite being displaced, strive to trace and maintain their traditional social relations by practicing their local customary laws, oral culture and continuing the connections with monastic institutional networks. Buddhist institutions in particular have become the centre of mediating power that enables Tibetans to reconnect with traditional social relationships within Tibetan social structure.

Tuesday June 4, 2013 01:30 PM - 03:00 PM Building: Elliott Building, Room: E-061