Chinese Sociology: State-Building and the Institutionalization of Globally Circulated Knowledge

Description

This book examines the institutional development of Chinese sociology from the 1890s to the present. It plots the discipline’s twisting path in the Chinese context, from early Western influences; through the institutionalization of the discipline in the 1930s-40s; its problematic relationship with socialism and interruptions under Marxist orthodoxy and the Cultural Revolution; its revival during the 1980s-90s; to the twin trends of globalization and indigenization in current Chinese sociological scholarship. Chen argues that in spite of the state-building agenda and persistent efforts to indigenize the discipline, the Western model remains pervasively influential, due in large part to the influence of American missionaries, foundations and scholars in the formation and transformation of the Chinese sociological tradition. The history of Chinese sociology is shown to be a contingent process in which globally circulated knowledge, above all the American sociological tradition, has been adapted to the changing contexts of China. This engaging work contributes an important country study to the history of sociology and will appeal to scholars of Chinese history and disciplinary historiography, in addition to social scientists. Front Matter ....Pages i-ix Introduction (Hon Fai Chen)....Pages 1-8 Achievement Without Coherence: The Rise of Chinese Sociology (Hon Fai Chen)....Pages 9-28 Dramatic Rebirth: The Suspension, Reestablishment, and Institutionalization of Chinese Sociology (Hon Fai Chen)....Pages 29-52 Paradigm Shift: Sociological Theory and the Studies of Social Transformation (Hon Fai Chen)....Pages 53-82 Diversity Within Limits: Post-positivism, Gender Studies and the Sociology of Consumption (Hon Fai Chen)....Pages 83-105 Friends, Not Enemies: The Globalization and Indigenization of Chinese Sociology (Hon Fai Chen)....Pages 107-132 Conclusion (Hon Fai Chen)....Pages 133-138 Back Matter ....Pages 139-149