Consumption and Consumers During the Social Transition

CHAPTER SIX

CONSUMPTION AND CONSUMERS DURING THE SOCIAL TRANSITION

Wang Ning

I. Introduction

Since the economic reform, launched at the end of 1978, Chinese people’s consumption patterns have greatly changed. It is those Chinese people who witness the economic transformation that change their patterns. Moreover, these changes become popular topics in the public sphere and in academia. Many social researchers have studied Chinese people’s consumption pattern and their consumption ideas.1 However, in general, sociological studies on the shift of Chinese people’s consumption are still relatively weak. For mainstream sociologists, it is common that consumption is not an object for sociological research, at least not a core object. The studies on consumption are regarded as an

1 See: (1) Feng Xiaoshuang 冯小双, “Mianzi wenhua de weizhi—nongcun funv xiaofeiguan diaocha 面子文化的位子-农村妇女消费观调查 [ The position of the mianzi culture—a research on the consumption attitudes of the women in rural area],” in Eeshiyi shiji 21 世纪 [ The twenty-first century], 1995 (3): pp. 10–13. (2) Dai Huisi 戴慧思 (Deborah S. Davis) and Lu Honglong (eds. & trans.), Zhongguo chengshi de xiaofei geming [ The Consumer Revolution in Urban China], Shanghai: Shanghai shehui kexueyuan chubanshe, 2003. (3) Chen Xin, Jiushu yu xiaofei [Salvation and consumption: the consumerism]. Nanjing: Jiangsu renmin chubanshe, 2003. (4) Wang Ning, Xiaofei de yuwang —zhongguo chengshi xiaofei wenhua de shehuixue jiedu [ The desire to consume—the sociological interpretation on the consumer culture in urban China], Guangzhou: Nanfang ribao chubanshe, 2005. (5) Yao Jianping, Xiaofei rentong [ The identities in consumption], Beijing: shehui kexue wenxian chubanshe, 2006. (6) Zheng Hong’e, Shehui zhuanxing yu xiaofei geming—zhongguo xiaofei guannian de bianqian [Social transition and the consumer revolution—the changes of the attitudes of consumption in urban China], Beijing: Beijing daxue chubanshe, 2006. (7) Wang Jianping, Zhong- guo chengshi zhongjian jieceng de xiaofei xingwei [ The consumption behavior of the middle class in urban China], Beijing: zhongguo dabaike quanshu chubanshe, 2007. (8) Zhao Weihua, Diwei yu xiaofei: dangdai zhongguo shehui ge jieceng xiaofei zhuangkuang yanjiu [Sta- tus and consumption: studies on the consumption of urban classes in contemporary China], Beijing: Shehui kexue chubanshe, 2007. (9) Zheng Yefu, Hou wuyu shidai de lailin [ The coming of the post-fetish period], Shanghai: shiji chuban jituan & Shanghai renmin chunbanshe, 2007. 280 wang ning topic for economics and management, especially market management. This mainstream “common sense” keeps the majority of sociologists for taking consumption as a “social fact.” Due to the ignorance of consumption in mainstream sociological studies, while China’s contemporary social changes and social transitions have been studied widely, the studies on the changes of consumption are relatively rare. However, consumption is a very important part of social changes and social transition in contemporary China. When we discuss China’s social changes and social transitions, is it possible to not pay attention to the government-issued coupons and the cancellation of the coupon system? These coupons, such as food- coupon, cloth-coupon, cooking oil-coupon, meat-coupon, and so on, had great influences on the everyday life of all Chinese. Can we not pay attention to the political fashioned clothes in the old days (such as military uniform, worker uniform, cadre uniform) and the sexy fash- ions nowadays (such as the low-cut dress)? Can we not pay attention to the transition from the bicycle traffic, which impressed the world in the old days, to the car traffic nowadays? Can we not pay attention to the fetish over bicycles, sewing machines, radios, and watches in the old days, and over Plasma TVs, stereo sets, automatic wash- ing machines, air conditioners, cell phones, computers/laptops, the Internet, MP4s, and sedans nowadays? Can we not pay attention to the changes on living conditions—from the shabby work unit dormi- tory and the crowded big courtyard [da za yuan] in the old days to the western-style house and condo flat nowadays? Can we not pay attention to the changes from the assembly in the square to the gather- ings in restaurants, teahouses, and bars? All in one, we cannot ignore consumption in our discussions on China’s social changes and social transitions. If we ignore consumption, many substantial contents of China’s changes and transitions will be missed. From the perspective of structural sociology, the target of this chapter is to analyze the changes in consumption (including the achieve- ments and problems) and the institutional logic of these changes since the reform and opening. The second section will discuss the achieve- ments during the consumption transition. The third section will focus on the occurring problems with such a transition. The fourth section will analyze the institutional logic during the consumption transition in China. The last section is the conclusion of this chapter. Here, it is necessary to point out the sharp differences between the urban area and rural area in China, namely the dual society of China. Due to