作　　者： ;

机构地区： 清华大学人文社会科学学院社会学系

出　　处： 《社会》 2005年第1期28-42,共15页

摘　　要： The middle class theory holds that when the middle class becomes the majority of a society, the social structure will be in a stable status,and vice versa.Most theorists agree on this logic. There are,however, contentions on two points about the middle class theory.One is about the social position of the middle class: some consider it to consist of the lower class and some just think the opposite. The other controversy is about whether the middle class is a united and homogeneous group, or a divided and heterogeneous one. In contemporary western societies, the middle class is the majority of the population, thus structurally making social stabilization possible in these countries. This experience is what China should draw on. It is a crucial problem about China's social structure that the middle class is too small and the lower class is too large. By analyzing China's several census data, the author predicts that it would take about 40 to 70 years for the China's middle class to become the majority of the society. The middle class theory holds that when the middle class becomes the majority of a society, the social structure will be in a stable status, and vice versa. Most theorists agree on this logic. There are, however, contentions on two points about the middle class theory. One is about the social position of the middle class: some consider it to consist of the lower class and some just think the opposite. The other controversy is about whether the middle class is a united and homogeneous group, or a divided and heterogeneous one. In contemporary western societies, the middle class is the majority of the population, thus structurally making social stabilization possible in these countries. This experience is what China should draw on. It is a crucial problem about China's social structure that the middle class is too small and the lower class is too large. By analyzing China' s several census data, the author predicts that it would take about 40 to 70 years for the China's middle class to become the majority of the society.

关 键 词： 中产阶级 中间阶层 社会理论 社会矛盾

领　　域： [经济管理] [社会学]