Abstract

The myth of the causal relation between the determining structure (forces of production) and the determined superstructure (relations of production) has long since been dismissed by all but the crudest Marxists. It remains, however, deeply rooted in Western conventional wisdom. As a result, the otherwise predictable brutal repression deployed by the Chinese rulers to restore “law and order” in early June caught almost everyone by surprise. Somehow, it was assumed that the economic reforms vigorously pursued during the past few years automatically created the objective conditions for a subsequent political liberalization, whereby China would gradually move towards a form of government very similar to Western capitalist countries.