Since Mao's death in 1976 spectacular economic growth has propelled China to become the world's second largest economy. Rooted in the classical Marxist tradition, this book provides a critical analysis of the transformation of China and its model of state capitalism.
Examining the economy, the rise of political authoritarianism under Xi Jinping, and the resistance of workers, women, environmental movements, religious minorities and others, it provides a comprehensive analysis of developing crises. This will reverberate on a planetary scale via the global capitalist economy and the system of inter-imperialist rivalry in which China is embedded.
China's ruling class proposes similar "solutions" to those in the West: authoritarian populism, intensified nationalism, racism, welfare austerity, wage restraint and the reassertion of traditional forms of gender relations and sexualities. This book argues that the socialist solution lies not in support for one ruling class over another, but insolidarity and common struggle against all forms of capitalism, whatever their national characteristics.