Social and Political Development in Post-Reform China (review)

In this impressive piece of scholarship Ka-ho Mok (City University of Hong Kong) offers insightful evaluations of economic development in post-reform China. The author has certainly benefited from his earlier monograph Intellectuals and the State in Post-Mao China, which probes the ideas of Chinese intellectuals and their relationship with the pro-democracy movements and with the state in post-Mao China. But what makes this book another desirable addition to the literature on this period is its author's original information based on a wide range of recent empirical studies in a variety of locations in China and his integration of quantitative data with qualitative analysis, which adds depth, scope, and perspective to our understanding of the recent changes in the world's most populous nation over the past two decades.

Mok traces China's rapid economic growth and the rise of a socialist market economy, focusing on two major changes: institutional transition and structural transformation. The former refers to "a transition from a highly centralized economic planning system to the market economy" and the latter to "social change from an agricultural, rural and closed society to an industrial, urbanized, market-driven and open society" (p. 5). Mok argues that the economic reforms triggered not only structural changes in Chinese society but also a shift in people's value orientations (p. 6) that will have far-reaching significance for the nation's sociopolitical development.

The book comprises three parts with eight chapters. The introduction reviews China's recent and dramatic economic and social changes. Chapters 2 and 3 examine how the economic reforms improved people's livelihoods but at the same time prompted a variety of social problems. Mok believes that "[a]ll these social problems seem to be the inevitable consequences of a 'rush-to' modernization" (p. 10). Chapters 4 and 5 are devoted to changes in the social structure caused by the economic reforms and the resultant social re-stratification. As Mok observes, the flourishing of the socialist market has marginalized state workers on the one hand and created ample room for the rise of intellectuals in China on the other. Chapters 6, 7, and 8 discuss how the Chinese people have become more critical of the existing regime and the socialist praxis. Mok concludes that "'social development' and 'sustainable development' depend on much more than rapid economic growth" and that "too rapid economic modernization might lead to the threat of a 'risk society' . . . , followed by socio-political implications for future development in China" (p. 12).

Mok seems to be on less sure ground when dealing with the issue of prosperity versus democracy. Whether "the goals of the flourishing of the market economy and the deepening of democratic political institutions are not necessarily conflicting" (p. 175), especially in a developing country, remains to be seen. Hong Kong can hardly be a convincing example to use for this purpose. Alvin So, for instance, suggests that Hong Kong was nondemocratic in the 1970s, became a restricted democracy in the 1980s, and evolved into a contested democracy in the 1990s (Alvin Y. So, Hong Kong's Embattled Democracy: A Societal Analysis [Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999]). More than three years have elapsed since China resumed sovereignty over Hong Kong. Development in the Special Administrative Region does not as yet offer much in terms of promoting both prosperity and democracy. It strains credulity to believe that "Hong Kong's experience on democratization may have a 'demonstration effect' to the people living in the mainland," since the "demonstration effect" of recent events in the SAR seems to point in a different direction.

Criticisms aside, Mok's approach captures the complexity and contradictions of the many issues faced by the post-Mao China leadership and enables the reader to reach a more nuanced, yet knowledgeable judgment. With such a wealth of facts and data to be digested...