Social Control In China

China is in the midst of dramatic economic and social reform-reform 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 units-the building blocks of contemporary China-pinpoints them as the primary sites of social control and as the most important components of any efforts at reform.

Review: 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