Dancing with Diversity?

Rapid market transition in post-reform China has created various socioeconomic spaces that fall beyond the Leninist mode of control by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and thus constitutes a formidable challenge to its ruling capacity. This article examines the evolving adaptations of the CCP and the rise of a new form of Party-society nexus in urban China. We found that Party organisers have been fostering a spatial strategy in the context of ‘disorganised urban socialism’. By spanning institutional and sectoral gaps, engaging so-called ‘floating party members’, and developing community-based service networks, the Party has deliberately combined a specific social mechanism with the Leninist logic of organising. We conclude with a broader discussion of the possible scenario and political implication of CCP’s organisational consolidation from below.

Socio-economic Aspects of Energy and Climate Change in South Africa

Appreciating energy and electricity as cornerstones of socio-economic growth and development, this chapter deals with a variety of concepts and factors to demonstrate the evolution of the role of energy in the South African economy and the population’s living standards. The chapter also discusses historically the various types of transition of the energy sector since the country’s first connection to electricity. The importance of energy as a factor of production and a medium of wealth is profound in the analysis. Also, the findings show that the transitions in the South African energy sector have gone through different natures: demographics of the users, sectoral transitions, regional ones until the one the sector has been undergoing since 2018 that combines a market transition (from monopolistic towards competitive environments) with a fuel transition (from a fossil-fuel-dominated system towards a cleaner, renewable mix).

Electric Vehicle Uptake: Understanding the Print Media’s Role in Changing Attitudes and Perceptions

Passenger motor vehicle transport is a significant and growing emissions source contributing to climate change. Switching from internal combustion engines to electric vehicles (EV) would significantly reduce most countries’ emissions, but for many consumers perceived barriers deter EV adoption. Consequently, government policies designed to incentivise a transition to EVs could benefit from consideration of the utility of communication channels such as print media for influencing consumer behaviour. This research explores the role that media and other communication channels writing about EVs play in consumer perceptions and awareness of government-initiated programs and policies to incentivise EV market transition. Using mixed methods of a media review and New Zealand car buyer surveys (questionnaires, interviews) (n = 893), we identified car buyers’ media use to update knowledge about cars, perceptions about EVs, and likelihood to buy, and tested awareness and popularity of incentives. We derive recommendations for policy improvements to accelerate EV uptake, including a significant role for the print media to disseminate relevant information, increase awareness of policies, and shift perceptions about EVs. We argue that social marketing programs should be enhanced to overcome lack of knowledge and misinformation, focusing on the market segment next most likely to buy EVs.

Informal sellers and formal markets: a habitus gap

Purpose In developing economies, 30% of the gross domestic product on average is undertaken by unregistered businesses. The informal economy leads to high opportunity costs by preventing gains from trade with strangers. To overcome this obstacle, sellers who usually operate in the informal economy should strive to move to formal markets. Current theories are drawn from a view of markets as institutions governed by formal and informal rules. In a nutshell, informal-formal market transitions must be met with a regulative solution. However, the overall results have been disappointing. This failure invites a re-diagnosis of the problem that informal sellers face to act in formal markets and suggesting novel solutions. This paper aims to address this gap. Design/methodology/approach This is a conceptual paper. The authors adopt MacInnis’s (2011) framework to characterize the approach to theory development. Findings The authors argue that extant views of formal/informal markets differences address only one of Scott’s (2014) three pillars (regulative, normative and cultural-cognitive). By drawing on Bourdieu’s legacy, the authors propose a cultural-cognitive reading of institutions and suggest it offers a lens to understand the problem as an access challenge, and thus a marketing problem. This perspective allows us to conceptualize informal/formal markets as two distinct institutional fields and argues that all individuals inhabit a particular habitus and contend that moving between markets requires a habitus shift. Thus, acting in formal markets involves bridging a habitus gap. Finally, the authors argue the need for a market-facing intermediary that takes on a market habitus bridging role. Research limitations/implications The authors suggest future research efforts could benefit from this new conceptual lens as a means of re-diagnosing other forms of market access that have produced disappointing results. Practical implications By looking at differences between formal and informal markets as a habitus gap, the allocation of public funds to support transitions can be better targeted and spent. Social implications The concept of market-facing intermediaries suggests that the beneficiary (e.g. informal seller) and target populations can be different. This insight could catalyze social innovation and trigger novel perspectives to design systemic solutions. Originality/value Conceptualizing the formal-informal market transition as a habitus gap suggests new directions to resolve access challenges and a new mediator solution.

A Sociological Analysis of the Performance and Subjective Well-being of Elite Sports Players in China

We were inspired by the market transition theory to investigate the relationship between elite sports players’ performance, subjective well-being and demographic characteristics with the lens of Weberian concept of instrumental rationality (zweckrational). This cross-sectional study was recruited 144 (Mage = 18.96, sd = 3.129) professional athletes in gymnastics, combat sports (including boxing, taekwondo, weightlifting, judo and wrestling), soccer, swimming and wushu (Chinese martial arts), in a government-operated sports institution in China. A hierarchical regression analysis was implemented to observe the relationship between the following variables, the subjective well-being, instrumental factors and other demographic factors, including gender, age, educational level, number of years on professional team and injury record. The results show that the bonus incentive system is the most important predictor of the athletes’ performance. We argue that under the context of China’s market transition, the lens of instrumental rationality can shed light on how the means-end calculations of elite athletes affect their sports performance.