Using systematic survey data analysis and case studies to examine and compare the emerging middle classes in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao and Urban China, this book explores whether the middle classes in these countries possess any uniquely 'Chinese' features, or if these are shared attributes that can be found in other non-Chinese middle classes in the Asia-Pacific region. It analyses the formation, profile, culture, lifestyles, mobility, and politics of the middle class groups in each country, and highlights the differences and similarities that emerge, and focuses in particular on increased mobility, financial resilience, class anxiety, and political interest and effectiveness.

Hsin-Huang Michael Hsiao is Distinguished Research Fellow and Director of the Institute of Sociology, Academia Sinica, Taiwan.

Part 1: Overview 1. Characterizing the Middle Classes in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao, and Urban China Part 2: Changing Profiles 2. Profiling Middle-Classes in Today's Taiwan 3. The Profile of Hong Kong's Middle Classes: Continuities and Discontinuities 4. Profiling the Middle Classes in Today's Macao 5. Profile of Middle Classes in Today's China Part 3: Emerging Ethos and Lifestyles 6. Getting Uneasy: The Hong Kong Middle Class's Changing Psychology 7. Comparing Socio-economic Attitudes of the Middle Classes in Taiwan and Hong Kong 8. Homemaking and Middle Class Formation in Urban China Part 4: Mobility 9. Taiwanese Middle Classes in Shanghai: Causes and Consequences of Skilled Migration 10. Professional Mainlanders in Hong Kong: Profile, Prospect, and Problem 11. Reality and Expectations: Social Mobility of the Macao Middle Classes Part 5: New Politics? 12. The Political Ambiguity of Middle-Class Activism in Taiwan: The Case of Urban Conservationists in Kaohsiung City 13. Emergence of Middle Classes in Today's Urban China: Will They Contribute to Democratization in China? 14. The Making of Hong Kong Middle Class in the 1977 Transition and Beyond: A Conflict Perspective