This book focuses on the use of guanxi (Chinese personal connections)
in everyday urban life: in particular, how and why people develop
different types of social capital in their guanxi networks and the
role of guanxi in school choice. Guanxi takes on a special
significance in Chinese societies, and is widely-discussed and
intensely-studied phenomenon today. In recent years in China, the
phenomenon of parents using guanxi to acquire school places for their
children has been frequently reported by the media, against the
background of the Chinese Communist Party's crackdown on corruption.
From a sociological perspective, this book reveals how and why parents
manage to do so. Ritual capital refers to an individual's ability to use
ritual to benefit and gain resources from guanxi.