Lifestyles of the rich and infamous: The creation and implications of China's new aristocracy

Journal article

This essay examines how the consumption of luxury goods and services in contemporary China has become a key way of defining membership in what Chinese popularly refer to as the "new rich" (xin fu) or "new aristocracy" (xin gui). During the Maoist era (1949-1976) and extending into the first decade of the Reform Era in China (1978-1988), political power bestowed modest material advantages. But now state officials can directly - or indirectly via their friends, family, and even mistresses - con...

Expand abstract

Authors: Gerth, K

• Journal: Comparative Sociology
• Volume: 10
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 488-507
• Publication date: 2011-01-01
• DOI: 10.1163/156913311X590592
• EISSN: 1569-1330
• ISSN: 1569-1322
• Language: English
• Keywords: social mobility; consumerism; luxury consumption; China; "hatred of the rich"; new aristocracy