China, Marxism, and Democracy

Why did the Chinese revolution result in bureaucratic mismanagement and totalitarian dictatorship? Was this what Mao Zedong and his associates in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) intended? Are totalitarianism and bureaucratic mismanagement the inevitable results of any attempt to create a socialist society as envisioned by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engles? These are some of the questions addressed in this collection.

The writers present and analyze the economic and political evolution of China since the introduction of Deng Xiaoping's reforms and show that in a more systematic and controlled fashion than was the case in the Soviet Union and in Eastern Europe, Deng Xiaoping has been guiding China toward a restored capitalism while maintaining the CCP's harsh dictatorship. In their view, Deng Xiaoping and his associates have ensured that there will be no free trade union elevating its leader to the presidency, as in Poland: nor artists and intellectuals taking over the government, as in Czechoslovakia; nor certainly the execution of an ousted dictator, as in Romania.

The reader may find their logic persuasive. The articles on which this book is based originally appeared in the October Review, a revolutionary socialist magazine published in Hong Kong.