Handbook on Social Stratification in the BRIC Countries


Book Description

Along with the fast growing economy, the term "BRICs" was coined to represent the newly emerging countries, Brazil, Russia, India and China. This book shows readers that it is the profound social structural changes in these countries that determine their future, and to a large extent, will shape the socio-economic landscape of the future world.




Handbook On Social Stratification In The Bric Countries: Change And Perspective


Book Description

Along with the fast growing economy, the term “BRICs” was coined to represent the newly emerging countries — Brazil, Russia, India and China. The enhanced economy in these countries has largely improved people's life; at the same time, it has also strongly influenced the transformation of social structure, norms and values. However, as the world's attention centers on their economic development at the micro level, the social changes at the micro level have often been neglected, and a specific comparative study of these four countries is even more rare.This handbook's contributing authors are leading sociologists in the four countries. They fill the gap in existing literature and examine specifically the changes in each society from the perspective of social stratification, with topics covering the main social classes, the inequality of education and income, and the different styles of consumption as well as the class consciousness and values. Under every topic, it gathers articles from authors of each country. Such a comparative study could not only help us achieve a better understanding of the economic growth and social development in these countries, but also lead us to unveil the mystery of how these emerging powers with dramatic differences in history, geography, culture, language, religion and politics could share a common will and take joint action. In general, the handbook takes a unique perspective to show readers that it is the profound social structural changes in these countries that determine their future, and to a large extent, will shape the socio-economic landscape of the future world.




Handbook Of The Sociology Of Youth In Brics Countries


Book Description

Youth are, by definition, the future. This book brings initial analyses to bear on youth in the five BRICS countries: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, which are home to nearly half of the world's youth. Very little is known about these youth outside of their own countries since the mainstream views on 'youth' and 'youth culture' are derived from the available literature on youth in the industrialized West, which is home to a small part of the world's youth. This book aims to help fill in this gap.The handbook examines the state of youth, their past, present and permits the development of insights about future. The BRICS countries have all engaged in development processes and some remarkable improvements in young people's lives over recent decades are documented. However, the chapters also show that these gains can be undermined by instabilities, poor decisions and external factors in those countries. Periods of economic growth, political progress, cultural opening up and subsequent reversals rearticulate differently in each society. The future of youth is sharply impacted by recent transformations of economic, political and social realities. As new opportunities emerge and the influence of tradition on youth's lifestyles weakens and as their norms and values change, the youth enter into conflict with dominant expectations and power structures.The topics covered in the book include politics, education, health, employment, leisure, Internet, identities, inequalities and demographics. The chapters provide original insights into the development of the BRICS countries, and place the varied mechanisms of youth development in context. This handbook serves as a reference to those who are interested in having a better understanding of today's youth. Readers will become acquainted with many issues that are faced today by young people and understand that through fertile dialogues and cooperation, youth can play a role in shaping the future of the world.




Indian Sociology


Book Description

This book presents a critical and reflective view of fundamental theoretical orientations, thematic domains, and current debates in Indian sociology. It covers the growth of sociology as an academic and pedagogical subject, with four main parts. Part I discusses important theoretical orientations in Indian sociology, including Indological and civilizational approaches, as well as the contributions of an eminent sociologist and pioneer in Indian sociology, Professor Yogendra Singh, concerning the sociology of knowledge, liberal democracy, and the relevance of his concept of Islamization in the study of Indian society. Part II examines substantive areas of study such as caste, class, and tribe. Part III reflects on specific topics of current concern in Indian sociology, such as emerging vistas and futures, globalization, and rethinking area studies for planetary conversations. This book is highly relevant for postgraduate students and researchers in sociology, social anthropology, and social sciences.




Sociologies in Dialogue


Book Description

Sociologies in Dialogue brings together expert contributions from international scholars, who reflect on the importance of collaboration between diverse sociological perspectives to enhance our understanding of the role of sociology as an academic discipline, and as a vehicle for social change. By exploring the distinctive practices and research of a range of sociologists, the book shows how an open dialogue between sociologists is critical to addressing major sociological issues across the globe such as inequality and ethnocentrism, and challenging the hierarchies of knowledge production and circulation. Contributors also discuss novel strands in theory and methodology such as multicultural sociology, cosmopolitanism, and multiple modernities. An important contribution for researchers and students interested in global sociology, sociological theories and methodologies.




Social, Political and Cultural Challenges of the BRICS


Book Description

For the almost 40 years of its existence, ANPOCS has contributed to introducing or consolidating new thematic areas in the academic agenda of debates in the Brazilian social sciences. Commensurate with this history, at the 37th Annual meeting, hosted in guas de Lindoia, So Paulo, in 2013, we organized a large International Symposium, The BRICS and their social, political and cultural challenges on the national and international levels. There were six sessions of debates, gathered under the umbrella of Development and public policies, Social inclusion and social justice, and Emerging powers and transformations in the international system, followed by a final plenary session. Around 30 anthropologists, political scientists, sociologists and researchers in international relations from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, met over three highly productive days. As might be expected at ANPOCS, the encounter was marked not only by the diversity of countries and disciplines, but also by the theoretical and political diversity of the participants, something already apparent in the composition of the Brazilian coordinators of the Symposium. This book is just one tangible outcome of the papers and dialogues emerging from this encounter. Like the Symposium, the volume is divided into three sections. Looking to address an international readership, it is published in Portuguese and English.




Life Expectations of the People


Book Description

This book compares the Chinese and Russian dreams, focusing on eight aspects: prosperity, affluence, family harmony, fairness and justice, diversity, green beauty, honesty and uprightness, and happiness. Based on large-scale survey data combined with the corresponding sociological theory for analysis, it presents detailed information, compelling arguments, and well-founded conclusions, offering insights into the commonalities and differences between these two countries' dreams.




China's Youth


Book Description

Understanding the young adults who came of age during the rise of China's economic and global power This book by a prominent Chinese sociologist explores how China's youth will influence the country's future. Focusing on millennials—those born between the early 1980s and the mid-1990s—the book examines the status, lifestyles, attitudes, values, and behaviors of this key segment of the country's population. Li Chunling's study presents a native Chinese perspective on the increasingly diverse generation that at some point will assume leadership of the country. Among the key questions addressed in the book are: How do Chinese millennials differ both from preceding generations in China and from their counterparts around the world? How can current and future relations between Chinese millennials and the Chinese government be assessed? And, what are the factors or fault lines that have shaped the intra-generational differences among China's young people? Members of this age cohort are extraordinary, and in some respects unique, in contemporary China. Their ascent has accompanied five historic and far-reaching developments. These include China's rapid economic rise, the adoption of the one-child-per-family policy, the largest domestic rural-to-urban migration in Chinese history, the opening of extensive educational opportunities abroad, and the arrival of the digital era. Young Chinese citizens have developed a comprehensive understanding of the world much faster than previous generations; millennials see themselves not as extensions of the past, but rather as the innovators of the country's future. Through expansive and in-depth empirical research on Chinese millennials and younger age cohorts (people in their late teens and early 20s), Dr. Li's book illustrates how China's younger adults reflect the growing diversity and persistent inequality in society. The book also explores how their distinct characteristics and views will shape the country's trajectory. For the outside world, developing a better understanding of this unique generation is an urgent task, given that China now has more influence on the global economy and regional security than at any other point in modern history.




Handbook of Post-Western Sociology: From East Asia to Europe


Book Description

Beyond hegemonic thoughts, the Post-Western sociology enables a new dialogue between East Asia (China, Japan, Korea) and Europe on common and local knowledge to consider theoretical continuities and discontinuities, to develop transnational methodological spaces, and co-produce creolized concepts. With this new paradigm in social sciences we introduce the multiplication of epistemic autonomies vis-à-vis Western hegemony and new theoretical assemblages between East-Asia and European sociologies. From this ecology of knowledge this groundbreaking contribution is to coproduce a post-Western space in a cross-pollination process where “Western” and “non-Western” knowledge do interact, articulated through cosmovisions, as well as to coproduce transnational fieldwork practices.




One Hundred Years of Social Protection


Book Description

While the rise of social protection in the global North has been widely researched, we know little about the history of social protection in the global South. This volume investigates the experiences of four middle-income countries - Brazil, India, China and South Africa - from 1920 to 2020, analysing if, when, and how these countries articulated a concern about social issues and social cohesion. As the first in-depth study of the ideational foundations of social protection policies and programmes in these four countries, the contributions demonstrate that the social question was articulated in an increasingly inclusive way. The contributions identify the ideas, beliefs, and visions that underpinned the movement towards inclusion and social peace as well as counteracting doctrines. Drawing on perspectives from the sociology of knowledge, grounded theory, historiography, discourse analysis, and process tracing, the volume will be of interest to scholars across political science, sociology, political economy, history, area studies, and global studies, as well as development experts and policymakers.