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Kluver, "Legitimating economic reform in China, 1978-1992: A rhetoric of myth and orthodoxy," 1993

USC Dissertation in Economics.
August 26, 2009
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Alan Randolph Kluver, Ph.D.

Abstract (Summary)
This study examined the discourse created to legitimize the Chinese economic reform movement at the 1978 Third Plenum of the Eleventh Central Committee, the 1982 Twelfth Party Congress, the 1987 Thirteenth Party Congress, the 1992 Fourteenth Party Congress, and in the 1981 Resolution on CPC History.

The study argued that governmental legitimacy in China is based on the national myth of revolution and ideological orthodoxy. The national myth is a retelling of the national history in a way that reaffirms the self-identity and values of the nation. Since the 1949 revolution, the myth has been dominated by the exploits of the Communist Party and Mao Zedong leading the nation out of darkness and oppression into a fully socialist society.

Ideological orthodoxy refers to correct political thought as dominant in the nation at the time. Since the 1949 revolution, the standard of orthodoxy has been Mao Zedong Thought, although Mao Zedong Thought has been variously conceived. This reliance on myth and orthodoxy corresponds to the Confucian doctrine of the Mandate of Heaven, in which the maintenance of authority is dependent upon the virtue of the Emperor.

The study argues that both the national myth and orthodoxy have been revised throughout the reform period. The national myth has been broadened from a revolution based on egalitarianism and the elimination of class struggle to a revolution based on economic prosperity and modernization. Ideology has been revised from an early reliance upon the teachings and policies of Mao Zedong to a more pragmatic version of Mao Zedong Thought as defined in the 1981 Resolution, consisting of only three elements; seeking truth from facts, the mass line, Chinese independence.

The study concludes by arguing that the national myth seems to have been successfully revised, guaranteeing societal consensus in regard to the reforms, while at the same time lessening the role of the Party and ultimately threatening its legitimacy. (Copies available exclusively from Micrographics Department, Doheny Library, USC, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0182.)

Advisor: Hollihan, Thomas

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