Revolution or Corporatism? Workers and Trade Unions in Post-Mao China

Abstract

As China's economy and society continue to experience enormous change, two concepts from political science 'corporatism' and 'civil society' are becoming increasingly relevant for analysing the country's future prospects. For a forthcoming book, China's Quiet Revolution: New Interactions between State and Society,* Anita Chan and Gordon White have employed both of these concepts to analyse the operations during recent years of China's 'transmission belt' organizations. Chan examines China's trade unions, and White the roles played by local municipal-level organizations and associations. Their conclusions are complementary, and may well stimulate debate within the China field. To enable the Journal's readers to read the papers as a pair, the book's editors, David Goodman and Beverley Hooper, have graciously permitted prior publication in the AJCA. J.U.