Labor and Class Identities in Hong Kong Class Processes in a Neoliberal Global City

by Lee, Chun Wing

• ISBN13: 9781137517555
• ISBN10: 1137517557
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2016-03-02
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

Based on numerous qualitative interviews, this cutting edge volume investigates how Hong Kong's economic structure and neoliberal policies have contributed to class inequality in China's global city. Inspired by Bourdieu's approach to class, the author examines class stratification in education, works, and political attitudes and argues that the lack of explicit class identifications among the people does not imply irrelevance of class. Relying upon empirical field data to question the applicability of the reflexive modernization theory, the text debates whether individualization makes class a redundant concept in advanced capitalist societies.

Author Biography

Chun Wing Lee is Lecturer at Hong Kong Community College, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, China. He obtained his PhD in Sociology from the University of Manchester, UK. His research interests include class analysis, social movement, and the political/sociological aspects of sports.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Studying Class Processes in Hong Kong: Approach and Method
Chapter 3: Education and Childhood
Chapter 4: Work
Chapter 5: Class, Politics, and Democratization
Chapter 6: Class Identification
Chapter 7: Hong Kong–China Integration, Neoliberalization, and the Young Lower Class in Hong Kong
Chapter 8: Classed Experience in a Neoliberal Global City