Chinese Sociology: State-Building and the Institutionalization of Globally Circulated Knowledge PDF
Preview Chinese Sociology: State-Building and the Institutionalization of Globally Circulated Knowledge
SOCIOLOGY TRANSFORMED Series Editors: John Holmwood and Stephen Turner CHINESE SOCIOLOGY State-Building and the Institutionalization of Globally Circulated Knowledge Hon Fai Chen Sociology Transformed Series editors John Holmwood School of Sociology and Social Policy University of Nottingham Nottingham, UK Stephen Turner Department of Philosophy University of South Florida Tampa, USA “In this concise and well-researched book, Chen Hon-Fai offers a fascinating new conspectus of the discipline’s history and current situation. The role of the state and transnational networks in shaping Chinese sociology are carefully ana- lyzed. So too are the attempts of several pioneering individuals to indigenize the discipline. Everywhere, the turbulent politics of China affects the sociological scene. A stimulating contribution to the study of sociology as a global phenom- enon, Chen Hon-Fai’s probing new book is highly recommended.” —Peter Baehr, Professor of Social Theory, Lingnan University, Hong Kong “Chinese Sociology is an essential analysis of the development of the discipline on mainland China, adding to the existing literature on Hong Kong and Taiwan with a historical imagination informed by an institutional perspective. Drawing thoughtfully on the best current work in the sociology of ideas and knowledge, Chen Hon-Fai manages to think comparatively and sociologically about main- land Chinese sociology while also highlighting the contributions of the most important Chinese scholars and their distinctive ideas, findings, research pro- grams and institution building successes and challenges.” —Neil McLaughlin, Professor of Sociology, McMaster University, Canada The field of sociology has changed rapidly over the last few decades. Sociology Transformed seeks to map these changes on a country by country basis and to contribute to the discussion of the future of the subject. The series is concerned not only with the traditional centres of the discipline, but with its many variant forms across the globe. More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/14477 Hon Fai Chen Chinese Sociology State-Building and the Institutionalization of Globally Circulated Knowledge Hon Fai Chen Department of Sociology and Social Policy Lingnan University New Territories, Hong Kong Sociology Transformed ISBN 978-1-137-58219-5 ISBN 978-1-137-58220-1 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-58220-1 Library of Congress Control Number: 2017949216 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018 The author(s) has/have asserted their right(s) to be identified as the author(s) of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988. This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Cover illustration: Pattern adapted from an Indian cotton print produced in the 19th century Printed on acid-free paper This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Macmillan Publishers Ltd. The registered company address is: The Campus, 4 Crinan Street, London, N1 9XW, United Kingdom A cknowledgements I wish to express my heartfelt gratitude to Peter Baehr. He suggested me to write this book and helped me expand my studies in the comparative- historical analysis of intellectual life. He is a respectable scholar, a reli- able mentor, and an exemplary role model. Besides, I am grateful for the series editors John Holmwood and Stephen Turner, for granting me this good opportunity to write and reflect on the Chinese sociological tradi- tion. My appreciation also goes to Neil MacLaughlin for his generous comments at an initial stage of my research, and the anonymous review- ers for their useful suggestions on the book project. I benefit a lot from the discussions with my Lingnan colleagues during our informal lunch- time seminars. I am indebted to the editorial and production teams for their patience and professional assistance. Flora Lo, Man Kit, and Gary Yip offer me indispensable help in preparing some of the primary data and secondary literature for this study. Last but not least, my academic career would not have begun without the supports and guidance of Prof. Wong Suk-Ying of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. A warm and pleasant family life is no less crucial for a young academic, and for that reason I dedicate this book to my mother and my wife. v c ontents 1 Introduction 1 2 Achievement Without Coherence: The Rise of Chinese Sociology 9 3 Dramatic Rebirth: The Suspension, Reestablishment, and Institutionalization of Chinese Sociology 29 4 Paradigm Shift: Sociological Theory and the Studies of Social Transformation 53 5 Diversity Within Limits: Post-positivism, Gender Studies and the Sociology of Consumption 83 6 Friends, Not Enemies: The Globalization and Indigenization of Chinese Sociology 107 7 Conclusion 133 Bibliography 139 Index 143 vii l t ist of Ables Table 6.1 Doctoral degrees of Chinese sociologists in 8 major universities 111 Table 6.2 International collaborations by doctoral degrees of Chinese sociologists in 8 major universities 112 ix CHAPTER 1 Introduction Abstract The history of Chinese sociology is a contingent process in which globally circulated knowledge, above all the American sociologi- cal tradition, has been adapted to the changing contexts of China from the 1890s to the present. Since the beginning, Chinese sociologists have devoted considerable efforts to assimilate the concepts, methods and approaches of Western sociology while retaining their distinctive iden- tity and addressing their specific problems. An institutional approach is pertinent to the analysis of this historical and sociological process, as it focuses on how academic community and its intellectual production are being shaped by the state, universities, research institutes, professional associations and other agencies. Keywords American sociology · Chinese sociology Globally circulated knowledge · Institutional approach Knowledge assimilation and production In many ways, Fei Xiaotong (1910–2005) was the embodiment of Chinese sociology and its development in the twentieth century. Fei was among the first batch of Chinese students receiving a more systematic local training in sociology, thanks to the incipient growth and institu- tionalization of the discipline from the 1920s onward. He was graduated from the Yanjing University, a renowned American-run liberal arts col- lege that was the center of sociological research in China prior to 1949. © The Author(s) 2018 1 H.F. Chen, Chinese Sociology, Sociology Transformed, DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-58220-1_1 2 H.F. CHEN Upon return from his overseas studies in Britain, Fei’s works on rural China soon attained international fame and became the landmark of the “Chinese school” of sociology. But after 1949, Fei’s fortune under- went an abrupt reversal as “bourgeois sociology” constituted the target of ideological attacks that culminated in the Cultural Revolution. After almost three decades of total suspension, sociology’s potential value for economic reform and socialist modernization was for the first time rec- ognized by the socialist state. Sociology was thus reestablished and Fei’s academic status restored, as he served as the leading representative of the discipline in countless committees and delegations. This also marked the beginning of a new and unprecedented level of policy and social inter- vention on the part of Chinese sociologists: Fei himself was appointed as the chief advisor of small town studies and development. Throughout his life, Fei personified not only the ebb and flow of Chinese sociology, but also its “problem consciousness,” that is, a practical emphasis on the use of sociological knowledge for the effective solution of social problems. In Fei’s own words, Chinese sociology was distinguished (and legitimized) by its “realism in the pursuit of knowledge” (congshi qiuzhi). Toward the end of his life, however, Fei showed a keen interest in the fiction The Celestine Prophecy, a 1993 national bestseller by the American novelist James Redfield translated into Chinese in 1997. Having read the novel twice, Fei gave an account of his fascination during an interview in 2003. Generally unimpressed by literary works, his attention was never- theless caught by the author’s name, James Redfield. Fei thought he was the grandson of Robert Park, the American sociologist who in the early 1930s visited the Yanjing University and taught Fei about the impor- tance of the direct observations of social life. Margaret Park Redfield, putatively the novelist’s mother, was the editor of the English translation of Fei’s Earthbound China and China’s Gentry, when Fei first visited the USA in the early 1950s. Fei believed that he met little Redfield and his parents during their visits in Tsinghua University and Yanjing University in the same period. Though James Redfield later became a classics pro- fessor at the Committee on Social Thought of the University of Chicago, Fei’s hunch was that he could be the author of the novel. But the sis- ter of James the classicist later clarified to Fei that he was mistaken (Fei 2003: 64–65). Another reason for Fei’s interest in the novel resided in its popu- larity in the USA, which seemed to confirm his emphasis on “cultural self-awareness” at the final stage of his academic career. The Celestine
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