The Reconstruction of Social Stratification in Post-Reform China A Study on the Formation and Impact of Social Solidification

Abstract

Drawing on past research, this essay briefly outlines the trajectory of social stratification and its structure in post-reform China, which has long been a social issue of concern. This research discusses the structure and fabric of social stratification from historical and empirical perspectives by combining government documents and historical scholarly materials. Previous studies have proved the objective fact of social solidification. This paper further discusses the features and impacts of social solidification in conjunction with Bourdieu’s capital and field theory and Pareto’s elite theory. In the post-reform era, the economic capital-centered pluralistic criteria have replaced the old political one. Nihilism in solidified China’s society can be divided into three types, escapism, hedonism, and cynicism. Social solidification and a series of social phenomena such as the second-generation phenomenon and inequality can be attributed to the relative lag and asymmetry in the interconversion of cultural and economic capital. The economic problem is a trigger that reveals social issues to some degree. This research formally analyses the relevance of social and subcultural phenomena to social stratification in post-reform China and further interprets the formation of solidification in post-reform China within different domains of capital.