ABSTRACT
Modernization may not be the same as marketization, but a country isolated from the world market has limited potential for modernization. The two concepts are clearly linked, however, for the development of a market economy tends to lead to a plural, civil society. 1 Unfortunately for late-developing countries, the global market system currently in place relegates them to the role of supplier of cheap labor and raw materials. In the case of China, whose leaders are not satisfied with this peripheral role, modernization must mean something more than just marketization. In order for China to eventually enjoy the status of a strong, developed state, modernization must somehow influence the people’s value system as well. This is the juncture where marketization and westernization inevitably meet; we might ask: are modern values simply Western values? Whatever position one takes on this meeting, the prevailing question still up in the air is whether or not westernization is a necessary condition for marketization. The Chinese official position is definitely “no,” but many China-watchers suspect the answer may be unavoidably “yes.” 2 In this chapter, I want to dig beneath this question and look into the richness of the meaning of marketization in China.
