Аннотация:This article offers a review and commentary on the applicability of the civil society model to contemporary China. Critiques of the civil society paradigm and corporatist interpretations are examined, then situated within the context of post-totalitarian Communism by drawing upon literature on Eastern Europe. Based on recent empirical findings, the author argues that the tension between state and society should not be interpreted as dichotomous; nor is the state/society divide the only major political cleavage in today's China. Increasingly civil society will play a critical role in the trilateral dynamics between the state, business elite and working classes.
