Children of the Cultural Revolution: Class and caste in Mao's China

The purpose of this dissertation was to assess the prevailing sociological images of socialist society and develop an alternative to analyze social structure and political behavior in Chinese socialism. This dissertation studied the relationship among class, caste, and behavioral development during China's Cultural Revolution of 1966-1976. The post-Mao class structure and its impact on political behavior were also analyzed. The dissertation research produced three major findings. First, there was a dichotomy between political activism and nonactivism in Mao's China. This dichotomy was rooted in the class structure and the caste system. Second, classes defined in terms of income and occupational prestige is a very important explanatory variable of behavioral development in Chinese socialism. Third, it is necessary to introduce a multivariable approach in studies of social institutions and political behavior under socialism. This dissertation was based largely on four sources of information: the Chinese government documents; official newspapers accounts and statistical compendia; Scholarly books and articles published by Chinese social scientists and American scholars; and in-depth interviews with fifty-seven Chinese adults residing in the USA who spent their childhood during the Cultural Revolution.