ABSTRACT

In the late 19705 the political and philosophical repudiation of radical leftism was the prelude to a major reappraisal of C hina's strategy of economic development. The move away from Maoist preferences focused attention o n fl aws in existing economic institutions and processes and the remedies for them. Differences among the moderate reformers and their radical cohorts became accentuated in the fo llowing decade as their analyses and prescriptions diverged on the issues of structural and system ic reform. Moderates affirmed the essential correcmess of the Soviet-Stalinist socialist model and sought appropriate modifi cations in its application to the Chinese context. Radical reformers, on the other hand, emphasized both the national and historical limitations of the Soviet model and focused their theoretical effortS on promoting the legitimacy of a specific Chinesesocialist economic variant. A key area of contention centered on the definition of the current stage of Chinese development which, in turn, would validate policies related to ownership patterns, norms of distribution, and the respective scopes of plan and market.