An analysis of the changing nature of law and social solidarity in contemporary China : the application of Durkheim's theory of solidarity to Chinese society

Abstract

This research is in socio-legal studies, focusing on the application of Durkheim’s theory of solidarity to Chinese society. The purpose of the study is to analyze the changing nature of law and social solidarity in China since 1982. It also aims to examine how certain social features identified during the transition promote or hinder, or are themselves affected by, the changes in the nature of social solidarity since 1982 through an analysis of the changing nature, content, variety and the intensity of laws. “Social features” refers to certain social phenomena which occur during social transition, among which “decline of collective consciousness”, “rise of individualism”, “state and law” and “anomie” are specifically referred to in this thesis. The extent to which legal changes represent changes in the nature of social solidarity will also be explained. My hypothesis is that China is in an important transitional period during which both repressive law and restitutive law change in nature, content, intensity and variety. The corresponding two solidarities represented by those two types of laws coexist and both change since 1982. The tension between the two solidarities may result in anomies creating social problems.

Although some research has been conducted in the use of Durkheim’s theory to examine Chinese social solidarity, such research lacks an in-depth analysis of Durkheim’s theory, a systematic assessment of Chinese social conditions or a critical consideration concerning the applicability of Durkheim’s theory to contemporary Chinese society. Thus, this study is of value as it provides a careful examination of the social situation in China based on the application of Durkheim’s theoretical framework.

Two broad research questions are developed: first, what forms do mechanical or organic solidarity take in Chinese society? Second, how has social solidarity changed in its nature in China since 1982 when legal reforms took place following the “reform and opening policy” in 1978?

Based on Durkheim’s approach, law is viewed as an external index which symbolizes social solidarity, and so changes of laws represent changes in the intensity of different types of solidarity. The research therefore includes two stages. The changes in the nature, content, variety and the intensity of different types of laws since 1982 will be analyzed at stage one. The changes in the nature of social solidarity will then be identified and analyzed as a short conclusion of stage one. At stage two, the thesis will analyze the roles of the social features in promoting or hindering the changing nature of social solidarity since 1982.

While limitations exist, the application, along with the supplementation of Durkheim’s approach offered here in response to the criticisms of his theory, and the approach of observing a society in transition from the perspective of law constitute the significance of the research. This approach, it is hoped, can be developed for comparative studies in discussing the nature of solidarity in other societies in possible future research.