Transforming Asian Socialism

Arguing that an understanding of the similarities and differences among communist countries provides valuable insights into their momentous transformations, this comprehensive volume compares recent changes in China and Vietnam. Exploring the economic, political, and social effects of reform programs, the chapters pair leading Vietnam and China scholars in a genuinely comparative analysis. Finding similarities--and unexpected differences--the authors conclude that Vietnam often has forged its own path rather than following the Chinese model.

A significant contribution to both political theory and China studies, this volume provides a critical assessment of the past and future Chinese socialism.

The immense process of economic and social transformation currently underway in China and Vietnam is well known and extensively documented. However, less attention has been devoted to the process of Chinese and Vietnamese legal change which is nonetheless critical for the future politics, society and economy of these two countries. In a unique comparative approach that brings together indigenous and international experts, Asian Socialism and Legal Change analyzes recent developments in the legal sphere in China and Vietnam. This book presents the diversity and dynamism of this process in China and Vietnam-the impact of socialism, constitutionalism and Confucianism on legal development; responses to change among enterprises and educational and legal institutions; conflicts between change led centrally and locally; and international influences on domestic legal institutions. Core socialist ideas continue to shape society, but have been adapted to local contexts and needs, in some areas more radically than in others. This book is the first systematic analysis of legal change in transitional economies.

This book examines the transition within the Japanese party system that has seen the demise of ‘the old socialists’, the Japan Socialist Party, and in its place, the emergence of the Democratic Party of Japan as the leading opposition party. Sarah Hyde has produced an original book which looks at the intra-left (non-communist) opposition party manoeuvrings during the 1990s through to the new millennium in a highly detailed and focused manner whilst simultaneously looking at the three most significant changes for the left nationally: the change to the electoral system, the change to public opinion regarding defense and the Constitution after the First Gulf War and the changes to the Labour Union movement. Ending with a chapter on the incredibly important 2007 Upper House election, which brings the development of the opposition full circle, this book will be a valuable source for students and scholars of Japanese politics, electoral systems and opposition politics.

David Lane outlines succinctly yet comprehensively the development and transformation of state socialism. While focussing on Russia and the countries of Eastern Europe, he also engages in a discussion of the Chinese path. In response to the changing social structure and external demands, he outlines different scenarios of reform. He contends that European state socialism did not collapse but was consciously dismantled. He brings out the West’s decisive support of the reform process and Gorbachev’s significant role in tipping the balance of political forces in favour of an emergent ascendant class. In the post-socialist period, he details developments in the economy and politics. He distinguishes different political and economic trajectories of countries of the former USSR, the New Member States of the European Union, and China; and he notes the attempts to promote further change through ‘coloured’ revolutions. The book provides a detailed account not only of the unequal impact of transformation on social inequality which has given rise to a privileged business and political class, but also how far the changes have fulfilled the promise of democracy promotion, wealth creation and human development. Finally, in the context of globalisation, the author considers possible future political and economic developments for Russia and China. Throughout the author, a leading expert in the field, brings to bear his deep knowledge of socialist countries, draws on his research on the former Soviet Union, and visits to nearly all the former state socialist countries, including China.

Examines the dramatic transformation of Asian communist countries-China in particular-to vigorous market economies

China, socialism, and especially China s three-decades-long experiment in building socialism has been an issue of much interest and debate among scholars as well as practicing Marxists in India and elsewhere. They also confront the realities of post-Mao China and how these have been impacting the lives of the peasants and workers in that society, as well as face the question of today s China being a development model for other third world countries. In mid-2005 several editors of Critical Asian Studies (formerly the Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars) convened in a Roundtable to engage the issues raised by Martin Hart-Landsberg and Paul Burkett in their book China and Socialism: Market Reforms and Class Struggle (Monthly Review Press, 2005). The articles published in this Roundtable, along with a Rejoinder by Hart-Landsberg and Burkett, appeared in two issues of Critical Asian Studies (37:3 and 4) in 2005. They, along with an Introduction by Hari P. Sharma, are reprinted here in Critical Perspectives on China s Economic Transformation in order to stimulate further discussion. As Hari P. Sharma writes in the Introduction: It is our task to learn the positive and negative lessons from the Chinese experience and carry on with the task of fighting and defeating imperialism and its hold, wherever we live; as well as lend support to the struggles for national liberation and for socialism, wherever they take place.

China, socialism, and especially China s three-decades-long experiment in building socialism has been an issue of much interest and debate among scholars as well as practicing Marxists in India and elsewhere. They also confront the realities of post-Mao China and how these have been impacting the lives of the peasants and workers in that society, as well as face the question of today s China being a development model for other third world countries. In mid-2005 several editors of Critical Asian Studies (formerly the Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars) convened in a Roundtable to engage the issues raised by Martin Hart-Landsberg and Paul Burkett in their book China and Socialism: Market Reforms and Class Struggle (Monthly Review Press, 2005). The articles published in this Roundtable, along with a Rejoinder by Hart-Landsberg and Burkett, appeared in two issues of Critical Asian Studies (37:3 and 4) in 2005. They, along with an Introduction by Hari P. Sharma, are reprinted here in Critical Perspectives on China s Economic Transformation in order to stimulate further discussion. As Hari P. Sharma writes in the Introduction: It is our task to learn the positive and negative lessons from the Chinese experience and carry on with the task of fighting and defeating imperialism and its hold, wherever we live; as well as lend support to the struggles for national liberation and for socialism, wherever they take place.