Social Control in China: A Study of Chinese Work Units

(Hardback)

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China is in the midst of dramatic economic and social reformreform that may well suggest a long-term developmental trend toward modernization and democracy. This evolution in the structure of Chinese society means that the authoritarian social control system in China must change if loss of community ties, dislocation, and social disintegration are to be avoided in the coming years. This book provides a blueprint for the social architecture of China and offers an argument for how change in the essential structure of Chinese society must be implemented. Shaw's investigation of work unitsthe building blocks of contemporary Chinapinpoints them as the primary sites of social control and as the most important components of any efforts at reform.

Reviews

"A comprehensive and richly informed study of the basic organizational unit of Chinese society. The book offers both description and prescription and should be of interest to anyone concerned with social control and contemporary China."-Gary T. Marx, Professor and Chair Department of Sociology, University of Colorado-Boulder
"The work unit has been a central feature in the system of social control developed after 1949 in the People's Republic of China. This book describes in detail the way work units operate. It will be valuable reading for anyone interested in the functioning of modern Chinese society, and for anyone interested in problems of social control more generally."-Maurice N. Richter, Jr., Associate Professor of Sociology State University of New York at Albany
"This book repays reading. It raises important questions and provides an intelligent synthesis of ideas, a strong command of the materials, and a bold analysis of the sociology of everyday life in China."-Gene Kassebaum, Professor of Sociology The University of Hawaii

Author Bio

VICTOR N. SHAW teaches in the Department of Sociology at California State University, Northridge. He has published widely on social organizations, mass media, and crime control policy in China.