School of Humanities and Communication Arts, University of Western University Sydney.
Br J Sociol. 2013 Jun;64(2):308-24. doi: 10.1111/1468-4446.12019.
Western theoretical traditions can benefit from systematic engagement with non-Western concepts: This is shown through an analysis of the Chinese concept guanxi. After considering the general nature of guanxi, including its possible association with corrupt practices and its particular cultural characteristics, the paper goes on to identify the elements of its general form which have universal representation. The possibility of conceiving guanxi as a variant form of social capital is explored. This shows the way in which both the expressive and instrumentalized forms of guanxi indicate otherwise neglected aspects of social and economic relationships not always recognized and addressed by analogous terms current in social theory but which are none the less important for its advancement.
这一点通过对中国概念“关系”的分析得到了证明。在考虑了关系的一般性质，包括它与腐败行为的可能联系及其特殊的文化特征之后，本文接着确定了其普遍表现形式的一般要素。本文探讨了将关系概念化为社会资本的一种变体形式的可能性。这表明，关系的表达形式和工具化形式都表明了社会和经济关系中被忽视的方面，这些方面并不总是被当前社会理论中的类似术语所认识和解决，但对于社会理论的发展却同样重要。
