La figura di Fei Xiaotong tra eredita storica e riletture contemporanee

This paper investigates the figure of Professor Fei Xiaotong, one of the most prominent scholars in sociology and anthropology in 20th-century China. His pioneering contributions to the development of these disciplines are here examined, as well as the enduring influence of his thought on contemporary sociological discourse in the People’s Republic of China. Through a critical assessment of his scholarly production and contemporary reinterpretations of his work, the study demonstrates how his legacy continues to confer both epistemological legitimacy and ideological orientation upon the evolution of sociological paradigms in China. In particular, the paper focuses on the field of environmental sociology, a relatively recent domain within Chinese social sciences, and explores how this discipline draws upon Fei’s work both as a source of academic legitimisation and as a politically functional medium for alignment with institutional narratives.