Bridal photos and diamond rings: the inequality of romantic consumption in China

Wanning Sun

doi:10.1186/s40711-017-0063-4

Abstract

Although sociological insights into the relationship between consumption and class are mostly borne out by current research in the Chinese context, it is important to consider the implications of applying such an analytic framework—which arose within American and European social contexts—to contemporary China. This paper examines the relationship between consumption and class relations. Drawing on ethnographic research and interviews with young urban professionals in Beijing and Nanjing and young rural migrants in Shenzhen, it asks how individuals from these two socioeconomic cohorts participate in the ritual of romantic consumption. In particular, the paper asks how individuals from these groups think about and rationalise their decisions surrounding two wedding-related consumer items: bridal photography and diamond engagement rings. The discussion reveals some distinct features in class formation in contemporary China, where class structures are fluid, unstable and still in the process of being defined.

Highlights

Sociological insights into the relationship between consumption and class are mostly borne out by current research in the Chinese context, it is important to consider the implications of applying such an analytic framework—which arose within American and European social contexts—to contemporary China
Chinese scholars who are concerned with change in social structures in contemporary China use a number of labels and terms, ranging from 阶级(class), 阶层
How do individuals from two different social cohorts in contemporary China think about and rationalise their myriad consumption-related decisions—what to purchase, how much money to spend and for what purposes? In what ways do these ‘consuming subjects’ (Zukin and Maguire 2004) simultaneously articulate and address their classbased aspirations and anxieties through their consumption choices? And how do answers to these questions in turn tell us about class formation in the contemporary Chinese context, where new class identities are emerging, and where class structures and class relations are still in the process of being redefined? This paper aims to pursue these questions

Summary

Introduction

Sociological insights into the relationship between consumption and class are mostly borne out by current research in the Chinese context, it is important to consider the implications of applying such an analytic framework—which arose within American and European social contexts—to contemporary China. While Marx defines class in terms of one’s position in relation to the means of production, Weber, on the other hand, considers consumption to be a key indicator of status group. Sun The Journal of Chinese Sociology (2017) 4:15 and 群体 (social group) Reviewing this body of Chinese-language literature, Guo observes that in contemporary China, ‘class’ is considered as a historical revolutionary instrument, whereas stratum is widely adopted as a more appropriate sociological concept to describe and analyse actual social structures. Alongside income, occupation and education, is a key index of middle-class membership, it is not surprising that popular media and cultural representations of the middle class are mostly associated with their consumption and lifestyles (Guo 2008; Rocco 2017)

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