KA-HO MOK is Director of the Asia Pacific Social Development Research Centre and also Assistant Professor of the Department of Public and Social Administration, City University of Hong Kong. He has a strong research interest in social development and political change in contemporary China, comparative education policy, and comparative social development in Hong Kong, mainland China and East Asia. He is the author of Intellectuals and the State in Post-Mao China and Sociology and the Analysis of Social Phenomenon. Dr. Mok has also published journal articles in Journal of Contemporary China, Asian Profile, Comparative Education, International Review of Education, Education and Society and International Journal of Education Development.

This book is a sociological study of the way in which economic reforms, started in the late 1970s, have affected people's life in China. The book is based on the author's recent research projects conducted in mainland China. An important feature of the book is that it is not only based on quali-tative analysis but also on quantitative data, the integration of which enhances the reader's understanding of current social and political developments in post-Mao China. In particular, the book aims to provide both a context and a sociological framework for analysis of the dynamic and interactive processes between economic, social and political fronts. Owing to recent and wide- ranging field visits and research experience in China, the author is able to deepen his analysis of the dynamic of growth and change within the confines imposed by ideological, social, political and institutional factors, and within a wider context of the dialectical process of 'modernization'.