Holding China Together
Diversity and National Integration in the Post-Deng Era

This volume addresses the 'fragmentation/disintegration thesis' and examines the sources and dynamics of China's resilience.

Barry J. Naughton (Edited by), Dali L. Yang (Edited by)

9780521837309, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 26 July 2004

318 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.2 cm, 0.64 kg

Review of the hardback: 'This book is an excellent collection of essays that makes a major contribution to our understanding of contemporary China. … This is a first-class volume which makes an important contribution to Chinese Studies and to broader political science debates on state capacity. Many chapters will be used in courses on Chinese politics and scholars researching issues of state capacity will inevitably have to refer both to this book's overall conclusions and to the individual case studies.' The China Quarterly

Despite many predictions of collapse and disintegration, China has managed to sustain unity and gain international stature since the Tiananmen crisis of 1989. Originally published in 2004, this volume addresses the 'fragmentation/disintegration thesis' and examines the sources and dynamics of China's resilience. Through theoretically informed empirical studies, the volume's authors look at key institutions for political integration and economic governance. They also dissect how difficult policies to regulate economic and social life (employment and migration, population planning, industrial adjustment, and regional disparities) are designed and implemented. The authors show that China's leaders have retained authoritarian political institutions, but have also reinforced and modified them, constructing fresh ones in the light of changing circumstances. Institutional and policy adaptations together have helped shore up political authority and create an environment for rapid growth, while accommodating growing diversity.

List of figures and tables
List of contributors
Holding China together: introduction Barry J. Naughton and Dali L. Yang
Part I. The Institutions for Political and Economic Control: Adaptation of a Hierarchical System: 1. Political localism versus institutional restraints: elite recruitment in the Jiang era Cheng Li
2. The institutionalization of elite management in China Zhiyue Bo
3. The cadre evaluation system at the grass roots: the paradox of party rule Susan Whiting
4. Economic transformation and state rebuilding in China Dali L. Yang
Part II. Case Studies of Policy Implementation: 5. Policy consistency in the midst of the Asian crisis: managing the furloughed and the farmers in three cities Dorothy J. Solinger
6. Population control and state coercion in China Yanzhong Huang and Dali L. Yang
7. The political economy of industrial restructuring in China's coal industry, 1992–9 Fubing Su
8. The western development program Barry J. Naughton
Index.

Subject Areas: Political economy [KCP], Development economics & emerging economies [KCM]