ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the theory of the socialist transition as it applies to China. It concentrates upon the theoretical arguments which underpin the current 'economic reform' period in China. This period may be characterised as a juncture of experimentation and change. The economic reform period may be divided into two phases. The first phase was one in which the experiments still remained within the traditional structures of Chinese socialism. The second phase of the economic reform period was given political approval at the Sixth Plenum of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee in June 1981, and is notable for rapid economic changes in agriculture. The chapter extends the criticisms made of the theory underlying the whole economic reform period. The argument moves from a critique of the orthodox view of socialism and the socialist transition to the presentation of a different approach to conceptualising post-revolutionary societies.
