The rise of new economic class in China's incorporation process (1780s–1890s)

The incorporation of China into the capitalist world-system required political, social and economic changes. Although existing studies on incorporation and comparative historical sociological research have provided numerous analyses of nineteenth-century Chinese social transformations, they lack a detailed, comprehensive account of the economic classes that emerged during the period of incorporation. This study categorizes the economic classes that emerged during China's long nineteenth-century incorporation into the capitalist world-system into domestic and international levels and analyses their impact on China's economic development. This study's contributions are as follows: first, unlike existing studies on China's incorporation or comparative historical research, this study considers the economic classes created by China's incorporation into the capitalist world-system in the nineteenth century; and second, this study enables an actor-based (or class-based) approach to China's economic changes and development path during and after its incorporation.