Professor, Sociology
Porteus 204; 956-7950
Department: 956-7693; Fax: 956-3707
e-mail: alvinyso@hawaii.edu

BA 1975, Chinese University of Hong Kong
MA 1977, University of California, Los Angeles
PhD 1982, University of California, Los Angeles

Professor So’s previous research centered on the historical transformation of the South China silk district at the turn of the century. His present research has two points of focus: 1) formulation of a theory of development in East Asia, particularly in the PRC, Hong Kong and Taiwan, and 2) middle class politics in East Asia, including the democracy movement in Hong Kong.

China-related courses taught
Soc 316 Social Change (Development of the PRC, Hong Kong, Taiwan)
Soc 356 People and Institutions of China
Soc 720 Comparative Sociology of East Asia
Soc 723 Seminar in Modern Chinese Society

Selected China-related publications
“Political Determinants of Direct Investment in Mainland China,” in The Emerging Patterns of Investment in China, edited by Sumner La Croix, Michael Plummer and Keun Lee. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, forthcoming.
“The Making of the Middle Classes in East Asia: Some Tentative Hypotheses” (with Hsin-Huang Michael Hsiao). In East Asian Middle Classes and National Development, edited by Hsin-Huang Michael Hsiao. Taipei: Institute of Ethnology, Academia Sinica.
“New Middle Class Politics in Hong Kong: 1997 and Democratization.” Swiss Asian Studies, forthcoming.
East Asia and the World Economy (with Stephen Chiu). Newbury Park: Sage Publications, 1995.
“Taiwan-Mainland Economic Nexus: Sociopolitical Origins, State-Society Impacts, and Future Prospects” (with Hsin-Huang Michael Hsiao). Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies Occasional Papers, No. 37, 28 pp., 1994. Also forthcoming in Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars.