Martin King Whyte (born 1942) is an American sociology professor emeritus at Harvard University[1] who is best known for his research on contemporary Chinese society in both the Mao and reform eras.
[2] He served as the acting director of Harvard's Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies during AY 2007-2008.
In 2011, Whyte was a witness before the United States-China Economic and Security Review Commission in Washington, D.C. Downplaying speculation that the People's Republic of China may implode as it grows economically, Whyte stated that he and his fellow researchers have not found “.
protests are almost always sparked by procedural injustices--unfairness of local governments, abuses of power, people not able to get redress when they're mistreated, and so forth, and by fear about whether they're going to be able to maintain their property or their future careers.
rather than Chinese society being a social volcano about to explode in anger about distributive injustice issues, it appears from our survey results that most Chinese citizens view current inequalities as relatively fair and as providing ample opportunities for ordinary individuals and families to get ahead.
Chinese on most counts view the current system as more fair than do their counterparts in other post-socialist countries in Eastern Europe.
Compared to their counterparts in advanced capitalist countries, they express views that are similar or at times even more favorable.
Using collaborative 1994 surveys performed in Baoding, China and comparative data from Taiwan, the authors found continued vitality of intergenerational support and filial obligations.
Whyte took his Bachelor of Arts at Cornell University, majoring in physics and minoring in Russian studies.