Options For Action In The Interests Of The Expression Of The Urban Underclass

The social structure of China has taken on a trend of fracture since the 1990s. The social members, in particular, those inferior in urban areas, have felt that their interests are destroyed. They have strong senses of frustration and relative deprivation. Their inferior status can be mainly displayed as their inability to express and pursue their social and political interests At present, their cannels /mediums of expressing their current situation aren't easy or smooth, and some people even take it for granted the phenomena that they "seek audience with high-ups" or take intense steps, which can cause more social upheavals and social tension. As a result, the research on "interests expressing of those inferior in urban areas" is very important. And this thesis is based on many years' study in this field.The first part: propose the problems and have a general introduction to the existing researches.The second part: the frame of concepts and the thread of this research. The author has defined three core concepts namely "interests", "interests expressing" and "action". Meanwhile, she explains the relations between interests and action, and also those between interests expressing and action. Then she gives a brief overview of the main theories on social action, including the basic idea of Max Webber, the Rational Choice Theory of Koelman, the Structuration Theory of Giddens and also the Theory of Collective Action. On this base, the author has suggested her analysis frame of "Situational Action Theory" She defines "situational action" as the actor's rational action on the basis of calculation of costs and profits in the frame of resources and institutions.The third part: introduction of the object and methods. Objects: inhabitants in the regions where there are many inferior people, those whoare out of work, peasants whose land are developed .Methods: make some questionnaires, have discussion meetings and have interviews.The fourth part: basic discovery. Those inferior in urban areas have a common problem that their interests are destroyed. They have strong senses of frustration and relative deprivation. Facing the fact of destroyed interests, they choose to keep silence (no action) or have personal voices or take collective action .The first choice is the commonest; the second is very radical, such as complaining in the public, continuous seeking audience for high-ups" ,or taking distorted resistance. At the same time, there are more and more collective actions, sometimes even social upheavals.The fifth and sixth parts: theoretical explanations. Firstly, analyze the factors behind "keep silence" (no action), including "insufficient controlled resources", "structural cognition" and "useless to find anybody". Secondly,further research on how actors balance their costs and profits under given situations and how they organize and mobilize their resources.The seventh part: conclusion .Summarize the main content of this thesis, propose some problems for further study.