Full Description
This title was first published in 2003.The People's Republic of China (PRC) is a timely example of social policy reform in a socialist market economy. This important and topical edited collection brings together leading Chinese and Western experts to introduce and integrate policy issues of the PRC into the mainstream of cross-national social policy debate. Drawing upon comparativist expertise in relevant aspects of social policy, the book explores the ways in which the PRC has or has not taken lessons from abroad in key social policy respects and illustrates policy-relevant relations between Chinese and Western perspectives. The contributors identify those aspects of China's recent social policy reforms that seem the most and least likely to appeal to Western societies. The collection therefore represents a substantial advance in two-way, East-West lesson learning in social and public policy.
Contents
Contents: Foreword, Catherine Jones Finer. On Drawing Lessons, in the Context of China: When all other conditions are not equal: the context for drawing lessons, Richard Rose; The context of social policy reform in China: theoretical, comparative and historical perspectives, Sheying Chen; The policy process in contemporary China: mechanisms of politics and government, Bo Peng; Paradigm shifts in social welfare policy-making in China: struggling between economic efficiency and social equity, Hsiao-hung Nancy Chen. Policy Sectors Under Scrutiny: Policies geared to tackling social inequality and poverty in China, Xinping Guan; Reflections on inequality and poverty in China, David Piachaud; Labour market construction and labour mobility in urban China, Fenyu Wang and Yandong Zhao; The British labour market and labour market policy in comparative perspective, Jochen Clasen; Pensions reform in China, Yuebin Xu; On reforming pensions, Alan Walker; Financing health care in China's cities: balancing needs and entitlements, G. Bloom, Y. Lu and J. Chen; China's health policy: a comparative footnote, Rudolf Klein; Progress and problems of urban housing reform, Ya Ping Wang; Housing in China: a view from the West, John Doling; Women's rights and protection policy in China: achievements and problems, Peiqun He; Women's rights and gender issues, Jane Lewis; Social care and voluntary action in China, Chen Tao; Social care and voluntary action: a response from the UK, Nicholas Deakin and Ann Davis; Afterword, Catherine Jones Finer; Index.
