Traces long-term trends in China, considering whether current developments favour the emergence of a pluralistic civil society or the preservation of State-controlled society, either in its Marxist-Leninist guise or in a modernizing authoritarian reincarnation.
Presents four translated documents, dated between December 1975 and October 1977, that reveal the existence of wide ideological controversy. Taken together, these four documents present a picture of extraordinary political vitality in China and contribute to our understanding of ideological currents and factions in China.