Science and Technology in Post-Mao China / Edition 1

by Denis Fred Simon, Merle Goldman

Overview

Along with the political and economic reforms that have characterized the post-Mao era in China there has been a potentially revolutionary change in Chinese science and technology. Here sixteen scholars examine various facets of the current science and technology scene, comparing it with the past and speculating about future trends.

Two chapters dealing with science under the Nationalists and under Mao are followed by a section of extensive analysis of reforms under Deng Xiaoping, focusing on the organizational system, the use of human resources, and the emerging response to market forces. Chapters dealing with changes in medical care, agriculture, and military research and development demonstrate how these reforms have affected specific areas during the Chinese shift away from Party orthodoxy and Maoist populism toward professional expertise as the guiding principle in science and technology. Three further chapters deal with China’s interface with the world at large in the process of technology transfer.

Both the introductory and concluding chapters describe the tension between the Chinese Communist Party structure, with its inclinations toward strict vertical control, and the scientific and technological community’s need for a free flow of information across organizational, disciplinary, and national boundaries.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780674794757
Publisher:	Harvard University Press
Publication date:	09/15/1988
Series:	Harvard Contemporary China Series , #5
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	476
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Merle Goldman is Professor of History, Emerita, at Boston University and Associate of The Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies at Harvard University.

Table of Contents

Contributors

Abbreviations List

Introduction: The Onset of China's New Technological Revolution
Merle Goldman and Denis Fred Simon

Part One: Historical Precedents

1. Technocratic Organization and Technological Development in China: The Nationalist Experience and Legacy, 1928-1953
William C. Kirby

2. Learning from Russia: Lysenkoism and the Fate of Genetics in China, 1950-1986
Laurence Schneider

Part Two: The Reorganization of Science and Technology

3. Reform of China's Science and Technology Organizational System
Tony Saich

4. Reforms and Innovations in the Utilization of China's Scientific and Engineering Talent
Leo A. Orleans

5. China's Industrial Innovation: The Influence of Market Forces
William A. Fischer

6. Organizational Reforms and Technology Change in the Electronics Industry: The Case of Shanghai
Detlef Rehn

7. Scientific Decision Making: The Organization of Expert Advice in Post-Mao China
Nina P. Halpern

8. The Impact of Returning Scholars on Chinese Science and Technology
O. Schnepp

Part Three: Application of the Science and Technology Reforms

9. Issues in the Modernization of Medicine in China
Gail Henderson

10. Science and Technology in the Chinese Countryside
Athar Hussain

11. China's Military R & D System: Reform and Reorientation
Wendy Frieman

Part Four: Technology Transfer

12. Technology Transfer and China's Emerging Role in the World Economy
Denis Fred Simon

13. Acquiring Foreign Technology: What Makes the Transfer Process Work?
Roy F. Grow

14. DOS ex Machina: The Microelectronic Ghost in China's Modernization Machine
Richard Baum

Conclusion: Science, Technology, and China's Political Future—A Framework for Analysis
Richard P. Suttmeier

Notes

Index

Editorial Reviews

Thanks to this original, clear, and vital collection, the place of technical and scientific issues in China today and in the near future can be understood by all. The editors have assembled 14 essays by established, respected specialists. Despite the variety of subjects—ranging from historical precedents, through present-day domestic policy emphases, to technology transfer from abroad—masterful introductory and concluding chapters draw everything into a unified survey that will serve intermediate and advanced students and observers of contemporary Chinese developments.

Choice

The essays cover an impressive range of topics… The book offers a very valuable balance-sheet for professional analysts of China’s economic and scientific policies, and its case studies in particular may prove useful background reading for foreign businessmen dealing with corporate strategy and tactics. Since the whole economic reforms involve a fine balancing act between central planning and free market forces, between central control and the delegation and decentralization of power and authority—vital issues in developing countries of the Third and Second World—a book about the way China grapples with these problems should prove interesting also for comparative studies in modernization theory.

Asian Affairs - Stefan B. Polter

This careful and realistic overview of China’s past and present technological state presents an even-handed, historical account of the transition from Nationalist to Communist policies toward science and scientists… Well-integrated chapters make this an informative, readable, and fascinating account of China’s love–hate relationship with technology. Anyone who wants to understand the vagaries of Chinese policy toward science and foreign influences should enjoy this book.

Science Books & Films - Martha R. O’Kennon

The studies brought together in this solid, meaty volume appear to add up to a fairly comprehensive treatment of China’s present scientific and technological condition… The book is a valuable addition to the literature relating to the relationship between science and the state, in the particular context of a centrally planned economy subjected to the rigorous primacy of political ideology.

Business History - A. J. Robertson

This careful and realistic overview of China's past and present technological state presents an even-handed, historical account of the transition from Nationalist to Communist policies toward science and scientists…Well-integrated chapters make this an informative, readable, and fascinating account of China's love-hate relationship with technology. Anyone who wants to understand the vagaries of Chinese policy toward science and foreign influences should enjoy this book.

Science Books & Films - Martha R. O'Kennon

The studies brought together in this solid, meaty volume appear to add up to a fairly comprehensive treatment of China's present scientific and technological condition...The book is a valuable addition to the literature relating to the relationship between science and the state, in the particular context of a centrally planned economy subjected to the rigorous primacy of political ideology.
— A. J. Robertson

Business History

The essays cover an impressive range of topics...The book offers a very valuable balance-sheet for professional analysts of China's economic and scientific policies, and its case studies in particular may prove useful background reading for foreign businessmen dealing with corporate strategy and tactics. Since the whole economic reforms involve a fine balancing act between central planning and free market forces, between central control and the delegation and decentralization of power and authority—vital issues in developing countries of the Third and Second World—a book about the way China grapples with these problems should prove interesting also for comparative studies in modernization theory.
— Stefan B. Polter

Asian Affairs

This careful and realistic overview of China's past and present technological state presents an even-handed, historical account of the transition from Nationalist to Communist policies toward science and scientists...Well-integrated chapters make this an informative, readable, and fascinating account of China's love-hate relationship with technology. Anyone who wants to understand the vagaries of Chinese policy toward science and foreign influences should enjoy this book.
— Martha R. O'Kennon

Science Books & Films