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The study of Asian societies has not yet had its share of attention within the framework of comparative sociology as a whole. As one step towards remedying this situation, a one-day conference, called by the British Sociological Association, was held in London, England, at the School of Oriental and African Studies on December 2, 1961, to discuss the position of sociology in Asia. Papers dealing with India, China, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand and Indo-China and Burma were presented at the conference. Coverage was thus fairly comprehensive, though certain areas, including the whole of the Middle East, were left out on this occasion. The aim of speakers present at the conference was to assess the present state of knowledge about societies they were considering, with special reference firstly to sociologists of Asian nationality and secondly to the current contribution of British scholarship. Papers that were presented, while they showed wide variation in the state of sociology in different countries, also showed for Asia as a whole a volume of work being done which western sociologists could ill afford to ignore. Some criticism arose in the discussion of the idea of regional research entrees and of inter-disciplinary teams assembled for area studies. There was discussion also of the alleged problem of translating sociological concepts into Chinese or Japanese.

A call for greater recognition of the value of Mannheim's work on generations was made by Pilcher (1994). This paper will describe the ways in which one case study employed the generational perspective in an effort to understand the main trends of thought and behaviour amongst a specific social group, i.e. the 'reform generation' of young intellectuals in 1980s China. The application of Mannheim's concept to the delineation of this social generation and how it was distinctive from its immediate predecessor will be described. The idea of a social generation being more than a group of similarly aged people will be explored with respect to the empirical work carried out in the Chinese context. The subsequent identification of possible sources of internal subdivisions will also be discussed and how sample members were classified in terms of intra-generational units. The possible links between these specific groups within a generation and the process of social change will also be raised. The value of some of Mannheim's key concepts will be assessed as they were applied in the case study and the main difficulties which arise in practice will be considered. The identity and particular self-consciousness of the 1980s generation emerged during the fieldwork and there were indications of their distinctive social characteristics such as self-confidence and acceptance of the notion of playing a leading role in Chinese society which will be discussed. Whilst this article does not set out to explain the outbreak of the 1989 student- led democracy movement, it should contribute to our understanding of it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how parents' social position influences their children's educational achievement in China. In 1977, the government instituted a three-tiered examination system to choose students for junior high school, senior high school, and the university. The carefully laid out rules prevent much of the corruption which undermined the system of the early 1970s. But the system perpetuates and accentuates inequality by selecting a disproportionate number of students from the intellectual and cadre families. Given the close family units and differences in social stratifications in China, social background influences educational achievements in ways similar and yet different from the west. It is not so much the economic advantage but the encouragement and coaching of the educated parents that give these children the edge. These children do better in the examination than those from the peasant/worker families and, in turn, the examination system gives them further privileges and opportunities, widening the gap between them and others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using household census data from Hong Kong in 1971, 1976, 1981, and 1986, we constructed new individual data sets for four separate cohorts of youth. The new data include family background variables, and permit us to study the selectivity in education over time. The question of how background and gender affect educational attainment is addressed in two complementary ways. We first use linear regressions on the number of school years completed, and then logistic regressions to calculate the likelihood of making particular school transitions. Consistent with prior research in the USA, Hungary, and the Philippines, these two methods yield results which are apparently contradictory. The linear effect of family background and gender on attainment diminished over time, suggesting a more open educational system. However, the effect of these same variables on the odds of making transitions actually increased at the higher levels. During the fifteen-year period we examine, Hong Kong attempted to expand the educational opportunities for its youth. Few nations have provided free and compulsory secondary schooling so shortly after having instituted universal primary education. One might expect rapid educational expansion to lead to a more open educational system as well. In fact, while the system did become much more open at the primary and secondary levels, it also became more selective at the higher educational levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Authority relations identified by the terms patriarchy, patrimonialism, and filial piety represent very different complexes of action in imperial China and Western Europe. Two sets of comparisons (developmental and configurational) demonstrate these differences in the institutional patterning of authority between China and Europe. The author argues, on the one hand, that in Western society legitimate domination is seen as the intentional, directional, and consequential arts of individuals acting within the boundaries of their jurisdictions. In China, on the other hand, it is seen as an aspect of specific sets of social roles, and hence as impersonal, non-intentional, and harmony-seeking. Some of the implications of these differences for social institutions are explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information related to the use of formal written law in the U.S. and the People's Republic of China (P.R.C.). In the U.S., the rules are expected to be followed both by citizens and by agents of the state. Citizens not abiding by these rules face legal consequences. However, in the P.R.C., citizens are rarely punished according to law. Americans have been trained as attorneys to handle cases pertaining to the written law, whereas, no lawyers in the P.R.C. have been assigned for such cases. The use of law and individual freedom from social control by state agents are apparently dependent on each other and any kinds of modifications in one cannot come about without influencing the other.

This article traces the social anthropology of China. Since the 1930s a number of Chinese, British and American anthropologists have tried to study Chinese society. The anthropologists working on Chinese themes since about 1950 have wanted to catch some of the things which a miniaturizing method must let slip. Had China not gone Communist they might still today have been piling up samples of local communities, the ethnographic map of China would have had many more flags in it, but the anthropologists would probably have been no nearer that understanding of Chinese society. The most suitable unit of study is the village, both because most Chinese lived in villages and because it is possible for one or two field workers to make a fairly detailed study in a year or so. The best way to begin the study of Chinese social structure is to select a very small social area, examine it meticulously, compare it with other specimens studied in the same manner, and then proceed to draw generalizations.