ABSTRACT
The general acknowledgement of China's achievements in terms of rapid and sustained economic growth during the last 28 years, scholars, policy makers and practitioners concerned with human development and well-being. The pace of globalisation further accelerated with the country's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) near the end of 2001. China's decision to strive for WTO membership was based on the leadership's optimistic perception of globalisation's potential for economic opportunities and benefits, discounting the likely challenges and costs that it might pose to vulnerable sectors of the economy and society. Marginalisation in China cannot be fully understood without taking into account the impacts of globalisation, broadly interpreted as a process through which the world is becoming increasingly interconnected and interdependent in respect of economy, society, culture, environment and polity. The theoretical links between modernisation, globalisation and marginalisation are further explored by Katherine Morton.
