The Victory of Materialism: Aspirations to Join China's Urban Moneyed Classes and the Commercialization of Education

Abstract

An important component of the Chinese government's strategy to modernize China entails enhancing the social and political status of a new moneyed urban middle class, particularly white-collar professionals and private entrepreneurs.1 In many ways, this strategy has been remarkably successful. In contrast to urban young people of the 1980s, who were often "searching for life's meaning", contemporary youth are success-oriented and openly seek "the good life".2 A recent ten-province survey by the State Statistical Bureau among people with income levels above 60,000 yuan a year revealed that the largest cluster was in the 30-40-year-old age bracket3-China's yuppies-and they have become the new publicized role models (no longer "model workers" unselfishly serving the Party and the state). The newly affluent have enthusiastically embraced this and have become eager consumers in the global marketplace, which has become a core aspiration also of China's urban young people. The following pages will examine the effects on popular attitudes of the regime's emphasis on performance and material success as a source of status-including the acceptance of growing social stratification. I will argue that "value", in a material sense, has become a key indicator of worth. Thus, as will be seen, upwardly mobile people are reluctant to interact with those from the lower strata, for fear that such contact will tarnish their image. Money has also become essential for success across generations, by way of an increasingly commercialized educational system where access to schooling has become increasingly dependent on one's family's wealth. What is striking is the open acceptance of these changes by the government. Parallel to this reshaping of regime norms, individuals are now much more willing to acknowledge their selfish motivations, and even more the selfish motivations of others.4 Stratification, Pragmatism and Materialism A decade ago, although they were already engaged in extensive surveys on the topic, social scientists in China were generally restricted from openly publishing revealing details on the increasing stratification of Chinese society. As administrators at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences told me at the time, such public discussion was not considered conducive to social stability. In the last few years, however, there has been a virtual cottage industry of books and articles precisely on the new strata that make up Chinese society, replete with extensive statistical, survey and public opinion data, A particularly prominent theme has been the rise of the middle class, especially those in white-collar professions.5 In addition to the academic press, popular magazines have widely reported on the new stratification patterns, usually with an emphasis on the incomes and lifestyles of the wealthiest strata and individuals.6 Some scholars, having conducted content analyses of the media, have railed against the extensive coverage of CEOs and general managers of companies on the one hand and film stars, singers and sports stars on the other, with an almost complete lack of concern for the common people.7 Some prominent Chinese sociologists and social critics have gone further, warning that increasing inequalities and skewed patterns of stratification have already begun to produce a "fractured" (duanlie) society, in which people in the same country live in different technological ages.8 This open discussion of stratification patterns, which now includes an authoritative list of the different strata making up Chinese society and their characteristics, has been reflected in the more openly expressed attitudes and behaviour of upwardly mobile Chinese youth. As I will show below, in key areas of political and social life such as recruitment into the Party, finding a job, obtaining and valuing wealth, choosing schools and so forth, youth have become less reluctant to acknowledge openly that instrumental, success-oriented values take precedence. …