Subjective well‐being in the new China: religion,social capital,and social status

We present the first nationally representative evidence on the relationship between religion and subjective well‐being for the case of China. Research on Western societies tends to find a positive association between being religious and level of well‐being. China provides an interesting critical case as the religious population is growing rapidly and the religious and socioeconomic environments are profoundly different from Western societies, implying different mechanisms might be at work. We hypothesize to find a positive association between religion and well‐being in China too, but argue social capital, for which strong evidence is often found in Western societies, is unlikely to be an important mechanism because religion in China is generally non‐congregational. Instead, we argue that the private and subjective dimension of religion matters for well‐being in China by helping adherents have an improved sense of social status relative to the non‐religious in the context of rapid social change and growing inequality. Our results generally support these predictions.     

Does media coverage influence public attitudes towards welfare recipients? The impact of the 2011 English riots

Following the shooting of Mark Duggan by police on 4 August 2011, there were riots in many large cities in the UK. As the rioting was widely perceived to be perpetrated by the urban poor, links were quickly made with Britain's welfare policies. In this paper, we examine whether the riots, and the subsequent media coverage, influenced attitudes toward welfare recipients. Using the British Social Attitudes survey, we use multivariate difference‐in‐differences regression models to compare attitudes toward welfare recipients among those interviewed before (pre‐intervention: i.e. prior to 6 August) and after (post‐intervention: 10 August–10 September) the riots occurred (N = 3,311). We use variation in exposure to the media coverage to test theories of media persuasion in the context of attitudes toward welfare recipients. Before the riots, there were no significant differences between newspaper readers and non‐readers in their attitudes towards welfare recipients. However, after the riots, attitudes diverged. Newspaper readers became more likely than non‐readers to believe that those on welfare did not really deserve help, that the unemployed could find a job if they wanted to and that those on the dole were being dishonest in claiming benefits. Although the divergence was clearest between right‐leaning newspaper and non‐newspaper readers, we do not a find statistically significant difference between right‐ and left‐leaning newspapers. These results suggest that media coverage of the riots influenced attitudes towards welfare recipients; specifically, newspaper coverage of the riots increased the likelihood that readers of the print media expressed negative attitudes towards welfare recipients when compared with the rest of the population.     

Kindergartners’ Development of Privileged Subjectivities within an Elite School

This case study investigates how kindergarten children thought and talked about their school in three socially stratified school settings: public, charter and private, and the extent to which they grasped sociocultural understandings related to social class. Data included field notes, interviews with the children and teachers, and parent surveys. A Bourdieuian lens illuminated emergent themes. Results indicate that children in the elite setting had developed sophisticated understandings of their privileged social locations and understood their position as distinct from other children.     

What can microblog exchanges tell us about food safety crises in China?

The affordance of microblogging services has made them an ideal tool for communicating risk and crisis. However, research on social media and risk communication is still in its infancy. This study, following the uses and gratifications framework, attempts to give some insight into the way micro-bloggers communicate about risk by investigating food safety communications on the microblogging service in China. A content analysis was conducted on 6186 microblog posts relating to 12 recent food safety incidents in China. A series of bivariate chi-square tests was conducted to test the association between micro-bloggers and gratifications. The results indicate that different types of micro-bloggers gratify different needs. Compared to other types of micro-bloggers, the general public tends to use microblogging to express opinions on food safety incidents, regulation and/or policy, rather than simply disseminating information; members of the public enjoy fewer multimedia affordances in their microblog posting but express more negative feelings. Although we anticipate growth in the use of social media in environmental health communication, caution is still needed: communication in China still follows a traditional top-down pattern.     

社会转型期宪法与社会变迁的冲突关系及其调适

在社会转型时期,宪法与社会变迁之间经常会产生冲突,使得一些改革措施面临违宪性争议。宪法与社会变迁之间产生冲突的原因主要有:宪法的滞后性与社会的发展性之间的矛盾;宪法至上理念与宪法工具主义思维之间的背离;宪法形式上的至上性与实质上的非至上性之间的割裂。要想从根本上解决宪法与社会变迁之间的冲突,需要将当前宪法由"总章程"式的宪法模式转变为原则性的宪法模式。     

政治与经济:中国改革的可能走向

经济发展与社会稳定为何呈现出"负相关"的关系?学术界的主流形成了三类具有代表性的分析框架:"宪政转型"、"体制落后"和"分配不公"。这三类框架具有各自的特点和局限性。在马克思的理论框架中,关于经济发展与社会稳定的关系背后,隐藏着一个更为深刻的相关性:经济基础与上层建筑之间的关系。这与主流观点有着本质的区别。对于中国当下的现实,马克思的分析框架有着极为深刻的解释力。这种解释的要义在于:(1)经济发展与经济基础的变化是同一过程的两个方面;(2)经济基础的变化必然要求上层建筑与之相适应;(3)经济基础与上层建筑的内在张力必然催生相应的政治诉求;(4)经济发展与社会稳定之间的"负相关",正是这种"政治诉求"没有得到有效满足的表现。因此,在经济基础日趋多元化的背景下,既要强化共产党的执政地位,又要确保市场化的改革方向。这个难题如何解决,不仅对中国未来的改革构成了巨大挑战,也将决定中国未来几十年甚至上百年的前途命运。     

“空间、空间生产”五问——对张之沧教授几个观点的质疑

既然空间是物质的存在方式,它就不可能具有主观性、意识性,也不可能是精神的存在方式。先在的、外在于人类实践的自然空间不可能是人创造的。我们在改造自然的同时,也改变了自然事物的原有空间形式,新的空间形式是适合于人类生活的。但我们不能创造物质本身,只能改变物质的具体形态,因而,我们也不能创造空间本身,只能创造具体事物的空间形式。社会存在是物质的高级存在方式,社会存在的空间形式可以称之为社会空间。但"社会空间"不表示这种空间具有社会性。社会存在包含着自然存在,不是自然存在的存在是非存在。社会空间实际上是社会存在的自然物质基础具有的空间形式。空间是物质的自然属性而非社会属性,"社会空间"不具有社会性。空间的生产只是生产的一个方面,不能用"空间生产"的概念代替"物质生活资料的生产"和"生产方式"的概念,应当从生产方式来理解人类历史和帝国主义、霸权主义在空间上的扩张、争夺。     

河北省新型农村合作医疗制度存在的问题及对策

新型农村合作医疗试行以来,在预防农民因病返贫、因病致贫方面取得了一定效果,但在实际工作中仍存在一些问题。究其原因,一是由于新农合宣传工作不到位,农民尚不能完全理解新农合的意义,并由此产生一定误解;二是由于医患关系日趋复杂,致使新农合面临巨大压力。本文通过对河北省部分市县新农合试行状况的调查分析,对其中的典型问题进行了总结,并提出了相应的改进措施。     

农民工社会流动的现实困境与对策分析

农民工合理有序的社会流动对转型期中国社会具有特殊意义。然而,目前农民工的社会流动绝大多数只是水平流动,缺乏跨越阶层边界的向上流动。因此可以说,当前的农民工社会流动已陷入困境。转型社会背景下的二元化制度及其惯性、农民工整体人力资本弱势以及社会资本缺乏是造成流动困境的主要原因。欲突破农民工社会流动困境,必须改革与创新制度、提升农民工人力资本、推动农民工组织化建设、规范政府职能,同时还应加强执行能力的建设、转变观念。     

祛魅、复魅与社会秩序的重建

按照马克斯.韦伯对现代精神特质的概括,现代就是"理性祛除巫魅"。祛魅作为现代处置神性信仰与公共秩序二元化方略的准确反映,长期以来被人们解读为一种反对宗教介入公共生活的现代姿态。其实,这种偏狭的"现代"忽略了信仰对于人类生活的意义,并因此无法完整理解现代生活公私两个世界的互动关系。20世纪50年代开始至今,宗教的复兴运动促使人们在祛魅之外看到由复魅象征着的人类另一种生活模式。由此人们可以认识到宗教之于人心秩序、理性之于社会秩序的高度相关性。宗教的价值就此再获肯定。而掌握世俗权力的人们,也就不再具有以无神论的方式处置有神论问题的理由。