Higher Education and Socialist Transformation in the Peoples' Republic of China since 1970: A Critical Analysis

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Abstract
Between 1970 and 1976, Chinese higher education was organized to promote the simultaneous development of both the forces and relations of production. Meritocratic principles were de-emphasized and political conscious ness emphasized in order to gradually reduce the differences between mental and manual labor and to prevent the development of a new ruling class composed of intellectuals and bureaucrats. However, certain problems emerged which re duced the schools' ability to provide students with the technical expertise needed for rapid economic growth. Since the death of Mao Tse-tung and the fall of the "Gang of Four" in 1976, colleges have been reorganized on a more meritocratic basis in order to train technical experts. The new Chinese leadership feels that the forces of production must be developed before the relations of production can be transformed. This new policy may retard the socialist transformation of produc tive relations. Ultra-right errors may result from the attempt to correct some of the ultra-"left" errors of the early 1970s.

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