China opens its doors: the politics of economic transition

China Opens Its Doors explains and documents the complex relationship between the politics and economics of China's recent "Open Policy," covering the period from 1978 up to the Party Congress of November 1992. Though emphasizing the political essence of this policy process, Howell also looks at the sociopolitical changes that it has engendered, including its impact on the state and labor. Her analysis—illustrated by a case study of the Xiamen special economic zone and set in the broader context of the global spread of liberal democracy—provides new insight into the politics of the "Open Door."