Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No. 12, 2022

Reform and Opening Up and the Narrative Discourse of Chinese Sociology Reconstruction: The Example of the Life Course of Forty Sociologists

(Abstract)

Zhou Xiaohong

The synchronization of Chinese sociology reconstruction with reform and opening up provides us with a unique perspective to review the contemporary progress of Chinese society through sociologists’ personal life course. Most of the post-reconstruction generation of Chinese sociologists had the experience of going to the countryside, working as laborers, or serving in the military before going to university. In a sense, they gained enlightenment in relation to empirical research in a non-disciplinary way before being exposed to sociology. Their understanding of and resulting empathy with urban and rural society and the masses, coupled with their academic training in diverse and miscellaneous methods, made it easier for them to enter the world of their research subjects. With their unique professional status, they participated in reform and opening up, confronted the problems and challenges in the modernization process, and responded to them with imagination, empirical research, and theoretical insights. Social transformation and cultural awareness also provided a subjective and objective basis for creating the agency of Chinese sociology. Throughout the past forty-plus years, their life courses and collective experiences have influenced the production of knowledge in Chinese sociology, endowing them with the academic vitality to respond to Chinese reality while still leaving room for bringing their work to new heights.