THE DIALECTICS OF AUTONOMY AND OPENING

This essay presents a consideration of the past sixty years of Chinese economic development. It argues that in order to understand the success of Chinese development the analyst must consider the prior Maoist years and in particular the structures of social relations; the forms of sovereignty; and most important, the highly participatory mobilizations of peasants and workers in building China. The author argues that the legacy of these earlier policies is key to a proper grasp of the current moment. In this sense, the “dialectics” refer to the ongoing relationship among past, present, and the possible future.