Political Economy of Chinese Development

The first edition of The Political Economy of Chinese Socialism reconceptualized the political economy of China by highlighting the changing character of urban-rural and state-society conflicts in the era of Mao Zedong's leadership and in the contemporary post-Mao reforms. The economic and social crises that engulfed China - and indeed much of the rest of the socialist world - in the late 1980s culminating in the 1989 democratic movement and its suppression stimulated a rethinking of central propositions of the first edition. It particularly led the author to inquire anew into the meaning of socio-political as well as economic development in a populous and poor agrarian nation. This volume then assesses the economic performance and social consequences of China's political economy over four decades with a focus on China's countryside and city-countryside relations. In addition to a reconceptualization and updating of the introductory chapter there is a new chapter The Social Origins and Limits of the Chinese Democratic Movement.