The post-1980s generation in China: exploring its theoretical underpinning

Abstract

Having emerged as a catch phrase in the media and among the general public in China, the ‘post-1980s generation’ has also become a subject of concern and discussion by academics both domestically and abroad. In order to answer the most basic questions of whether or not the ‘post-1980s’ constitute a generation, and what has founded this generation, the present paper starts with a discussion of the theoretical foundation of the concept of ‘generation’, followed by a specific discussion of the Chinese ‘post-1980s generation’, including the social forces they confront and their corresponding reactions. It is concluded that the post-1980s generation in China has grown up with and responded to the abrupt social changes incurred by reform and opening-up, and displays a distinctive generational entelechy. It therefore constitutes a generation in a practical and theoretical sense.

Keywords:

• post-1980s
• generation
• China
• theoretical

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Corrigendum

Acknowledgements

This paper is part of a broader project, Housing the Post Eighties Generation: Attitudes, Aspirations and Future Trajectories supported by the Hong Kong RGC (No. 9041696).

Notes

1. First published in 1928 in German, ‘Das Problem der Generationen’ was translated into English and included in Mannheim (1952, 276–322).

2. Similarly, the two cohorts of ‘post-1980s’ and ‘post-1990s’ that receive much public concern in mainland China should actually belong to a single generation since there is no significant social fracture between them.