.1949-1952 China's Social Assistance Study

Social assistance is a policy or system for the state or society to provide relief or help for the difficult or unfortunate citizens. Studying on China's vulnerable groups and social assistance system during the period of 1949 to 1952 helps to further expand the research disciplines of the history of CPC and the PRC, helps to promote the study on the history of China's social assistance, enriches the theory of social stratification, social structure and social security in the early period of the establishment of new China and can provide important reference for China's social relief today and the building of a harmonious society. On the basis of the greatest possible file information, with Marxist's dialectical materialism and historical materialism as a guide and a combination of empirical research method of the historical overall investigation and case analysis as a main method and with drawing on other relevant theories and methods of social work, social science and political science, this thesis makes a comprehensive study in multi-level and multi-angle on China's vulnerable groups and social assistance in the period of 1949 to 1952.The thesis includes three parts, that is, the introduction, the body and the concluding remarks.The introduction part mainly discusses the origin of this issue, the core concept and the study situation, framework, path and methods in order to fully display the subject of the thesis and demonstrate the value of the topic.Chapter I is on China's vulnerable groups from 1949 to 1952. Based on the combing the materials, the thesis reveals the survival plight of China's vulnerable groups in this period, sums up the characteristics and their influences of China's vulnerable groups in this period and illustrates that the plight of China's vulnerable groups and their characteristics and influences are the main incentives for the CPC and the Chinese government to launch social assistance.Chapter II is on the thought of CPC's social assistance. Basing on the combing of the relevant literature, the thesis explains the core ideas of the CPC and the Chinese government on the vulnerable groups and social assistance, namely, those important and crucial issues related to the overall arrangements and strategic decision-making of the social assistance system, including the causes of vulnerable groups, the need and importance of the social relief, the meaning and extension of social relief, the relationship between the rights and objections of the subject and object of social relief and tries to make comments and assessment on them.Chapter III is the research on the social assistance system. The thesis sorts out the establishment process of the social assistance system, analyzes the framework system of the social assistance system from its four aspects, that is, the target system, the rules, the organization and management system and the infrastructure system, and in order to have a systematic understanding on the social assistance system and its operational mechanism, discusses the mode of operation of social assistance system, such as the collection and distribution of funds, the management of personnel, the mobilization of civil society.Chapter IV is about the assistance practice of the CPC and the Chinese government. Basing on the type sequence of the vulnerable groups and basically through case studies, the thesis respectively examines the social relief live practice, performance and experiences of the government relief for various vulnerable groups and makes comments and assessment on the role and characteristics of government aid.Chapter V is about the mutual assistance of civil society. On the basis of the respective inspection of the mutual assistance in the family, charitable organizations and social mutual assistance under the guidance of the state, the thesis sums up the characteristics of the social mutual assistance in that period and analyzes its development trend.In the part of he concluding remarks, the thesis evaluates the social relief in the period of 1949-1952, illustrates the relationship between the social relief and social relations, reveals the underlying causes of the choice of the China's social assistance system and its impact on China's society and tries to analyze its inspiration on today.Through the empirical research in various aspects above, the thesis draws the following conclusions. Firstly, in the early period of the founding of the PRC, under the leadership of the CPC, the Chinese government and community has made such arduous efforts to help the vulnerable groups that the social relief has achieved great achievements in the social changes and has played an important role in maintaining social stability, promoting economic recovery and development and consolidating the nascent regime. Because of this, the social assistance system then has written a glorious chapter in the history of China's social relief and its many pioneering measures have been inherited and carried forward further later. Secondly, in terms of ideology and system level, the awareness of the CPC and the Chinese government on those important and crucial issues related to the overall arrangements of social assistance and strategic decision-making has basically gone beyond traditional thought of social relief and started to transform to the modern concept of social assistance. The positive social relief system modal that is based on the basic national conditions has opened a new chapter in the history of social relief and is a significant milestone. The combination of the positive social relief system modal and the revolutionary social mobilization methods has in some degree ensured the system performance of social assistance and has become the important characteristics of the social assistance system in that period. Thirdly, the practice of social assistance in the early years of the founding of the PRC reveals that in the period of social transformation, social relief can accomplish a great deal more than other secondary systems in the social security system, such as social insurance. It needs to play the initiative roles of both the nation and society and effectively integrate institutional support of the government, the service functions of the civil society organizations and communities, the consolation of friends of the vulnerable groups and the role of the groups?ˉsocial capital. The successful social relief should be positive assistance and be focused on the enhancement of the self-help ability of the vulnerable groups. It needs a good socio-ecological environment as background to absolutely resolve the fundamental issues of the vulnerable groups, namely, a certain economic basis, the political premise, the ideological and cultural conditions and legal protection. Of course, due to age restrictions, the social relief in the early period of the founding of the PRC inevitably has some kinds of problems, whether in ideology and system and in practical level, which leaves us a lot to reflect today.