Social Stratification—China
When the socialist government of Mao Zedong (1893–1976) came to power in 1949, one of its major goals was to reduce the stark inequalities of income and wealth that existed at that time. To this end, the government appropriated most private property, expanded public education, abolished labor markets, and instituted wage controls. By the early 1960s, inequalities of income and wealth in rural and urban areas were sharply reduced, and living standards for most Chinese were greatly improved. Ironically, however, socialism introduced new inequalities—among those who did and did not have network ties to government officials and Communist Party members and among those who did and did not work in state-owned firms. Furthermore, one of the most serious inequalities in pre-1949 China—the disparity in income and living conditions between urban and rural areas—was never eradicated under Mao. Just two years after Mao's death in 1976, many of the policies designed to abolish economic inequalities were incrementally dismantled in an effort to marketize the economy. Post-Mao market socialism could reverse many of the equalizing trends of the Maoist era.
Stratification Under Mao
In the decades before 1949, China was continuously pummeled by war, acts of imperialism, and domestic turmoil.
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