During the past quarter century Jonathan Unger has interviewed farmers and rural officials from various parts of China in order to track the extraordinary changes that have swept the countryside from the Maoist era through the Deng era to the present day. A leading specialist on rural China, Professor Unger presents a vivid picture of life in rural areas during the Maoist revolution, and then after the post-Mao disbandment of the collectives. This is a story of unexpected continuities amidst enormous change. Unger describes how rural administrations retain Mao-era characteristics - despite...

During the past quarter century Jonathan Unger has interviewed farmers and rural officials from various parts of China in order to track the extraordinary changes that have swept the countryside from the Maoist era through the Deng era to the present day. A leading specialist on rural China, Professor Unger presents a vivid picture of life in rural areas during the Maoist revolution, and then after the post-Mao disbandment of the collectives. This is a story of unexpected continuities amidst enormous change. Unger describes how rural administrations retain Mao-era characteristics - despite...

The ongoing suppression of journals, and obstacles faced by non-governmental research organizations, attest to the enduring challenges for creating alternative sources for discussing China's reform and transition. This book looks at research institutes and journals in China and the dilemmas of transition by chronicling the tensions between the need to create an "autonomous space" for policy making and the problems created by such activities. The "non-governmental fever" of the 1980s and the development of research organizations and journals claiming to be non-governmental - to avoid political...

In contrast to the failure to economic reforms in Eastern Europe, China's economic reforms have been quite successful. Decollectivization, marketization, state enterprise reforms, and reintegration into the world economy have led to very rapid economic development in China over the past two decades. These economic reforms, in turn, triggered profound social and political changes. This collection examines the origins, nature, and impact, as well as the future prospects of these reforms and changes. The contributors are all active researchers from a variety of disciplines, including economics,...