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University of California Press

About the Book

Based on official Chinese sources as well as intensive interviews with Hong Kong residents formerly employed in mainland factories, Andrew Walder's neo-traditional image of communist society in China will be of interest not only to those concerned with China and other communist countries, but also to students of industrial relations and comparative social science.

About the Author

Andrew G. Walder is John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Social Sciences, Harvard University.

Table of Contents

Preface 
Acknowledgments 
1. Communist Neo-Traditionalism: An Introductory Essay 
The Neo-Traditional Image of Communist Society 
Communist Neo-Traditionalism as a Type-Concept 
Social and Economic Dependence on the Enterprise 
Political Dependence on Management 
Personal Dependence on Superiors 
The Institutional Culture of Authority 
Precis of the Analysis 

2. The Factory as an Institution: Life Chances in a Status Society 
The Transition to a Communist Pattern 
Demographic Problems and the Administrative Response 
Status Groups in the Labor Force 
The Supply and Allocation of State Sector Jobs 
Social and Economic Aspects of the Employment Relationship
Labor Mobility and Dependence on the Enterprise 
Mobility and Life Chances in the Enterprise 
The Structured Dependence of the Enterprise Community 

3· The Party-State in the Factory 
The Party-State and the Working Class 
The Political Organization of the Factory 
The "Foreman's Empire" on the Shop Floor
The Chinese Work Group System 
Stalinist and Maoist Mobilization: A Comparison 

4· Principled Particularism: Moral and Political Aspects of Authority 
Social Ties in Ideological Groups 
From Ideological Orientation to Principled Particularism 
Biaoxian and the Flexibility of Rewards and Punishments 
Worker Responses to Moral-Political Authority 
The Substantive Ambiguity of Biaoxian 

5· Clientelist Bureaucracy: The Factory Social Order 
The Divided Workforce as a Social Fact 
The Official Patron-Client Network 
Cliques and Factions 
Instrumental-Personal Ties 
A Comparative Perspective 

6. Maoist Asceticism: The Failed Revitalization 
Maoism as a Revitalization Movement 
Trends in Real Wages and Living Standards 
The Inequities of Wage Austerity 
The Emergence of Indulgent Patterns of Authority 
The Expanding Scope of Instrumental-Personal Ties 
The Decline of Work Groups 
The Unintended Consequences of Revitalization 
From Asceticism to Paternalism: Changes in the Wake of Maoism

7. From Asceticism to Paternalism
The Restriction of Moral-Political Mobilization 
Recasting the Political Standards 
The Redefinition of Activism 
The Changing Role of the Party 
Continuities in the Pattern of Dependence 
The Evolving Institutional Culture 

8. Theoretical Reflections
The Structure of Communist Societies
Social Stability and Legitimacy in Communist States
The Varieties of Modern Industrial Authority 
The Evolution of Communist Societies 
Appendix A: The Hong Kong Interviews: An Essay on Method 
Appendix B: List of Informants 
Bibliography 
Index 

Reviews

"Here is a book that smashes and rebuilds. It smashes widely held ideas about communist bureaucracy, charisma, the convergence of industrial societies. . . . It rebuilds our understanding of contemporary China—and of communist regimes in general—by showing how overlapping instrumental and personal ties, embedded in ideology and party organization, have reshaped Chinese industrial enterprises. By placing Chinese experience firmly and lucidly in comparative perspective, Walder helps us rethink non-communist enterprise as well."—Charles Tilly, New School for Social Research

Awards

  • Distinguished Contribution to Scholarship Award 1987, American Sociological Association
  • 1988 Joseph Levenson prize 1988, Association for Asian Studies
  • 1988 EGOS Award 1988, Section on Organizations and Occupations of the American Sociological Associatio