Abstract

In this study I re-examine and reinterpret the prevailing image of fragmented authoritarianism in China in the theoretical framework of “loose coupling” in organizational analysis. In contrast to the rational model of organizations, the “loose coupling” model argues that organizations are often characteristic of a loosely coupled system in which different elements are responsive to one another but in ways that are often delayed, imprecise, and preserve their own identities and autonomy. I identify the institutional mechanisms that cultivate and reproduce the loose-coupling phenomena in the Chinese bureaucracy, despite the tremendous efforts of the Leninist party organization to reshape it into a tightly-coupled system. Empirical evidence from patterns of personnel flow in the large Chinese bureaucracy and fieldwork observations are used to illustrate this line of arguments and to make sense of the observed bureaucratic behaviors.

Biography

Xueguang Zhou is the Kwoh-Ting Li Professor in Economic Development, a professor of sociology and a senior fellow at Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University. His main area of research is institutional changes in contemporary Chinese society, focusing on Chinese organizations and management, social inequality, and state-society relationships. His ongoing research projects focus on (1) personnel flow and personnel management practice in the Chinese bureaucracy; (2) historical origins and evolution of institutions of governance in China.

Abstract of the talk

Following the end of the one-child-policy in China in 2016 and the gradual relaxation of only-one child per family in selected areas prior to that, family composition and relationship dynamics,  specially siblings relationship within the Chinese familial context has gone through a rapid growth and some significant changes as a result of the introduction of the two-child policy. This policy  hange, leading to the possibility of adding another child into the family may have profound implications on the family system, its functioning and care relations among those living in China.

This presentation will review empirical findings to answer two questions: How do Chinese parents raise two children within a family? Does parents’ own sibling status matter?

About the speaker

Bin-Bin Chen, PhD, is an Associate Professor at Department of Psychology, Fudan University, China. His research interests include various aspects of family relationships and the social and  motional development of child and adolescent. He is also the Principal Investigator of the Fudan Sibling Project (FSP), a longitudinal investigation exploring changes in family functioning and the firstborn’s adjustment after the birth of a second child, which has received funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China. He has publications in journals such as Developmental Psychology, Development and Psychopathology, Journal of Research on Adolescence, and Child Development Perspectives. He was the 2017 recipient of Chinese Young Scholar Award, The 10th Conference for Chinese Psychologist.

Abstract of the talk

Background: Although welfare programs in China provide a safety net for low-income people by directly lifting their incomes, receiving benefits has the potential to affect recipients’ mental health because of the demanding and demeaning means-testing application process required by Chinese policy makers. However, little research has
examined the relationship between welfare participation and mental health symptoms-particularly those of depression-among Chinese youth. This study aims to examine the relationship between family participation in the Dibao income-assistance program in China and symptoms of depression among youth.

Methods: This study used a youth sample (n=4,192) of nationally representative data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) survey. Multiple imputation was used to deal with missing data. Propensity score matching based on the imputed datasets was used to reduce the selection bias of the two groups (Dibao recipients vs non-Dibao). The imputed data was analyzed using aggregated robust multiple regression. The Center for Epidemiological Studies depression scale (CESD-20) was used to measure depression symptoms. In addition, a variety of subgroup analyses were conducted to explore whether the relationship between Dibao participation and symptoms of depression differs significantly by the sociodemographic characteristics.

Results: Youth whose families received Dibao assistance had significantly greater risk for symptoms of depression compared to peers who did not receive assistance. Results also showed that young women- especially young mothers-whose families participated in the Dibao program in rural areas were at significantly higher risk compared to others.

Conclusion and Discussion: The relationship between welfare participation and symptoms of depression varies significantly by the characteristics of youths and their families. As a marker for collective disadvantage and adversity, welfare participation warrants research to study program processes and to distinguish pathways-possibly differentiated by gender-that may elevate risk for depression among Dibao program recipients.

About the speaker

Dr. Shiyou Wu is an Assistant Professor at the School of Social Work at Arizona State University. Wu has been involved in interdisciplinary collaborative research locally, nationally, and internationally, using a social determinants of health framework and a person-in-environment perspective to explore the multi-level (individual, interpersonal, household, community, societal) determinants of youth behavioral health outcomes, especially among youth from impoverished families (e.g., welfare recipients).

Abstract

Using data from the 2000 and 2009 National Surveys of Family and Economic Conditions in Japan, (N = 2,202) we examine the relationship between knowing someone engaged in “innovative” family behaviors and attitudes toward such behaviors. We extend existing research on this topic in three ways: 1) by adding a longitudinal component that allows us to estimate a fixed-effects model that controls out the influence of unmeasured, time-invariant factors likely to be related to both knowing and attitudes, 2) examining whether know behaviors themselves, or relationship domains, are the more salient predictor of attitudes, and 3) by focusing more explicitly on gender differences. We find that, net of unmeasured time-invariant characteristics, knowing a friend or co-worker who engaged in innovative family behaviors is associated with a significant change toward more non-traditional attitudes, and more so for women than for men.

Biography

Martin Piotrowski is an Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Oklahoma. He received his PhD in sociology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2006 and was trained at the Carolina Population Center (CPC). He is a demographer specializing in quantitative methods and conducts research on aspects of rural-to-urban migration, marriage and fertility, and familial and gender attitudes especially in parts of Asia. He has done research in countries experiencing large-scale socioeconomic change including Thailand, Nepal, China, and Japan and has explored topics involving inter-generational and family relations, household structures, and life course transitions. He has published widely in sociology, family, and demography journals including Social Science Research, Journal of Marriage and Family, Population Studies, European Journal of Population, and others.

Jeffrey Guhin Assistant Professor at The University Of California, Los Angeles Rachel Rinaldo Associate Professor at The University Of Colorado Boulder September 25, 2020 (Friday) 11:00am HKT Via Zoom For Research Postgraduate Students (Mphil/Phd) Of Our Department Contact us at fjolivos@link.cuhk.edu.hk Or kelvinlam@link.cuhk.edu.hk if you are interested to join the seminar. We look forward to meeting you.

Xueguang Zhou is Professor of Sociology and Kwoh-Ting Li Professor in Economic Development and FSI Senior Fellow at Stanford University. His main area of research is institutional changes in contemporary Chinese society, focusing on Chinese organizations and management, social inequality, and state-society relationships.

Organizational approaches to social phenomena have become a major research paradigm since the 1980s, partly because the field of organizational research has matured, with rich theoretical models and analytical tools accumulated, and partly because contemporary society has become increasingly structured by formal organizations and are hence subject to organizational analysis.

This workshop introduces organizational approaches to selected, substantive areas of sociological inquiry. The goal of this workshop is to focus on some classical ideas in the literature and introduce the kind of research issues, theoretical models, and analytical concepts in organizational research and their applications in selected areas.

Sessions

1.Seminar 1. Organizational approaches: An overview. August 10, 9am – 12pm HK

2.Seminar 2. Organizational approaches to state building & bureaucracy. August 12, 9am – 12pm HKT

3.Seminar 3. Organizational approach to stratification & inequality. August 14, 9am – 12pm HKT.

4.Seminar 4. Organizational approach to social movements.  August 17, 9am – 12pm HKT

Practical Sessions. Before 4 September 2020, exact dates yet to be confirmed.

1.Project preparation and consultation

2.Project presentation and discussion

Eligibility

RPg students of Department of Sociology, CUHK

Parent Academy of Hong Kong Education City co-organised a Parent Seminar: Liberal Studies in Everyday Life with Hong Kong Liberal Studies Teachers’ Association on 4 July 2015. Prof. Stephen Wing-kai CHIU of our Department gave a talk entitled “Do’s and Don’ts for Parents of Liberal Studies Students” during the seminar. The talk was delivered to parents to explain the role of them in their children’s Liberal Studies learning. Around 150 parents participated in this seminar and shared their experiences with Prof. Chiu.

The Department is privileged to have invited Prof. Martin K. Whyte, John Zwaanstra Professor of International Studies and Sociology at Harvard University, and Prof. Deborah Davis, Professor of Sociology at Yale University, as guest speakers for the Sociology Distinguished Lecture entitled “Family Transitions in China since 1949” on 8 January 2015. Prof. Whyte presented a lecture on “Understanding Family Change Patterns in the PRC”. Prof. Davis presented a lecture on “Sociologists Look East: How Empirical Evidence on Chinese Families Can Challenge Dominant Assumptions and Paradigms in the Study of Marriage and the Family”. The lecture drew an audience of over 100 participants.

Prof. Salvatore Babones, Associate Professor of Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Sydney, visited the Department and presented a talk on “Interpretive Approaches to Quantitative Methods in the Social Sciences” on 27 November 2014. Prof. Babones also conducted a workshop on “Publishing in International Journals in Sociology” for postgraduate students of the Department on 2 December 2014.

Prof. Guang Guo, Dr. George and Alice Welsh Distinguished Professor of Sociology at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, visited the Department and presented a public seminar on “Sociology and Genomic Research” on 13 October 2014.

Department of Sociology organized a workshop entitled “Cybercrime: Evolution and International Response” on 19 September 2014. Prof. Peter Grabosky, Emeritus Professor at Australian National University gave a presentation on “The Evolution of Cybercrime, 2004-2014”, and Prof. Gregor Urbas, Associate Professor of Law at University of Canberra, gave a presentation on “Responding to Cyber-Attacks: The role of International and Domestic Law”. Dr. Laurie Lau, Honorary Research Fellow of the Pearl River Delta Social Research Centre of the Department , served as the moderator of the workshop.

Prof. Frank Dobbin, Professor of Sociology at Harvard University, visited the Department and presented a public seminar on “Too Small to Regulate?: The Crisis and the Failure of Shareholder Value” on 5 September 2014.

Prof. Michèle Lamont, Professor of Sociology and African and African American Studies and Robert I. Goldman Professor of European Studies at Harvard University, visited the Department and presented a public seminar on “The Quest for Equality and Respect: Responding to Stigmatization and Discrimination in United States, Brazil and Israel” on 2 September 2014.

Prof. Lingxin Hao, Professor of Sociology at Johns Hopkins University, visited the Department and presented a talk on “China’s Rural-Urban Migration and Children’s Access to Compulsory Education: Policy Evolution and Consequences” on 11 August 2014