Introduction

Established in 2011, the National Institute of Social development (NISD) is a social science and policy research institution under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), NISD’s mission is to become a leading institution in promoting research on key aspects of social development, in both the internationalization and localization of social science research in China, and in promoting academic communities, and  innovation in interdisciplinary approaches and research methods.
The NISD focuses on national social development as one of its core research domains, and conducts research pertaining to strategies, policies and directions of future reform, development and modernization in China. Specific areas include the role of evolving social structures in patterns of macro-social development; the process of social change; the dynamics  in the formation of social groups, communities, and organizations at the micro-level; historical and comparative research on the long-term consequences of social development. It aims to develop an empirically based theory of social change by investigating the interrelation between social development and political action. The institute seeks to build a bridge between theory and policy and to contribute to debate on the major challengers in process of social change facing current Chinese society.