| This dissertation studies three subjects in political science: the issue of modernization, the non-economic impact of the international economic interactions represented by foreign direct investment (FDI), and labor allocation patterns (LAPs). They are explored through a case study of contemporary China, an "ideal laboratory" for social scientists.; Conceptually, this thesis attempts to explore the interactions and tensions between a country's domestic organizational structure and the need for that country to adapt to the international market in its effort to pursue modernization. I argue that modernization can be viewed through the prism of a study of LAPs. Thus, an alternative analytical model for understanding modernization is proposed.; More specifically, this work is a study of FDI in the People's Republic of China and its impact on the transformation of the Chinese economy-state-society relationship during the process of Chinese modernization. In particular, I focus on the four Chinese LAPs, mainly the newly-emerged market-oriented one, and their significance for the Chinese modernization and the Chinese political future. I intend to reveal the nature of the Chinese domestic system, to demonstrate the channels and the impacts of the international economic interactions, and to portray the transformation of the domestic organizational structure in the PRC. I have found that China is currently struggling with a state-led modernization at its first stage: "the Dragon enters the net".; This work attempts to further our understanding of international political economy as a field of study. It will be of benefit to the study of comparative politics since it explores the meaning, routes, mechanisms, and strategies of modernization. This study may have particularly theoretical significance for the study of modernization in former socialist countries and in the Third World, since the selected case--China--bears the main features of both. Finally, this thesis will hopefully contribute to the study of Chinese politics; it addresses the major consequences of the Chinese reform and "opening" policies over the last decade. |
