Xiaoqun Xu makes a compelling and original contribution to the study of China's modernization with this study of the rise of professional associations in Republican China, in their birthplace of Shanghai, and of their political and socio-cultural milieus. Xu addresses a central issue in China studies, the relationship between state and society, and proposes an alternative to the Western-derived concept of civil society. This book illuminates the multidimensional complexity of modernization and nationalism in twentieth-century China, and provides a concrete case for comparative studies of...

The greatest economic challenge facing China in the post-Deng era is the reform of unprofitable, state-owned enterprises that have never truly been forced to face the pressure of a bottom line or the threat of bankruptcy. Forging Reform in China explains how and why well-intentioned, market-oriented reform measures have not been sweepingly successful to date, and what it would take to achieve meaningful reform. This book makes a compelling argument that private ownership cannot work in China's current system until governance over complex economic factors has been established, that is, until...