Chinese Capitalism and the Modernist Vision provides a
theoretical explanation of the current transition of the Chinese social
formation, the dynamics of that transition, and the implications of the
transition for the global political economy. The text is unique for
a number of reasons: 1. The text produces an analysis and critique
of the policies of the Communist Party of China (CPC) from within
the field of Marxian theory and with a strong grounding in the Marxian
debates that have shaped that Party. This theoretical framework allows the
reader to better understand the thinking of CPC leaders and specifically
locates the Marxian theory that has become prevalent within the CPC as a
version of modernist thinking (modernist Marxism). 2. The text argues that
the social system created during the so-called Maoist period was a form of
state feudalism that lasted from the late 1950s until the relationships of
fealty upon which that system was based were dismantled during the reform
era in favor of capitalist social relationships. 3. The text presents
evidence that the form of capitalism that has come to prevail in China is
a version of decentralized state capitalism (with strong indications that
private capitalism will eventually displace this state version). 4.
The current transition is both driven by a process of decentralization and
fragmentation and produces these phenomena in a self-reinforcing dynamic.
The rise of local government to greater prominence within the hierarchy of
power within China is an important part of the story of transition
sketched out in the text and helps the reader to understand how the
dynamic of reform has become endogenous (and therefore less likely to be
abandoned).
