The study gives detailed data on questions of demography, labour migration and unemployment in China. "What concerns market economy and privatisation, the present tendency is in fact the establishing of a competitive economic structure, and making optimal resource allocation by market forces. But … how can hundreds of millions of rural inhabitants integrate to the market? How can they become potential competitors? If it is a ‘rule of nature' that stronger ones inevitably exclude all losers from competition then it is very likely that those losers will come from rural areas." .

The economic crisis about 2000 has not left China intact – its exports decreased relevantly both in volume and value. Chinese authorities opted for stimulating domestic demand to counterweight the unfavourable developments, which required establishing consumer mentality for Chinese people. "It became the first time in the history of China that the idea of consumption received full moral support. Consumer behaviour developed into national ideology." On the other hand, Chinese are increasingly realising that the gap between the poor fighting for daily survival and the rich consuming luxury goods is getting wider in their society still called ‘socialism'.

US elites more and more regard the quickly developing China as an economic and political rival. That is why the US makes increasing attempts to curb Chinese exports by administrative measures, and isolate China in international relations. It seems both attempts will fail. The offensive of Chinese diplomacy hinders the hegemony of US imperialism in an increasing number of regions in the world.

One of the main topics of this issue of Eszmélet is the actual operation of NGOs both in Hungary and abroad, especially focusing on the question how the capitalist system forms these organisations to follow its rule. Although problems in Europe and Latin America are different but the fundamental question for the political left is the same: can leftwing NGOs develop into a movement or remain the toy of the capital and the state. A further block of articles examines the basics of economic, cultural and social development of modern China – mostly publishing articles of authentic and system critical Chinese authors. Among the conclusions they also found that the fundamental feature of the Chinese development is that the Communist party itself promotes the basic structural forms of capitalist development. The debate on state socialism also continues, as well as two articles address again the Spanish Civil War and the history of the Popular Front.

Table of contents

1. Krausz Tamás : What is next, which is best? Points to be discussed on features and the future of globalisation critical ‘civil movements’ – based on East European experience
2. Henry Veltmeyer, James Petras : Bad government, good governance – civil society versus social movements
3. Claus Leggewie : Supranational movements and the question of democracy
4. Szigeti Péter : Civil Society
5. Tütő László : Where democracy is, is it tyranny? Miracles expected by regime change – democracy of disillusions On Mária Vásárhelyi: Age of disillusions – Regime change from below
6. Farkas Miklós : Further comments to the Spanish Civil War
7. Harsányi Iván : Popular Front, Spain, anarchists Comments to the Popular Front section of Eszmélet No.70
8. Konok Péter : ARENA (Asian Regional Exchange for New Alternatives) – Asian Exchange
9. Vámos Péter : Is the dragon sick? Internal problems of China and solution attempts
10. Lau Kin Chi : Environment for intellectuals’ criticism in China
11. Wen Tiejun : Reflections at the turn of the century on “Rural issues in three dimesions”
12. Huang Ping : China: Rural problems and uneven development
13. Chen Xin : New development of consumerism in Chinese society in the late 1990s
14. Gerald Horne : Made in China? The Crisis of US Imperialism
15. Hegyi Gyula : Socialism is possible

The author suggests an interesting thesis in his contribution to the state socialism discussion – socialism is not an issue of the past but an actual question concerning the future of Europe. He regards the socialist-social democrat European political left capable of developing socialism. His starting point can be regarded as questioning the view of those authors who see no chance for the revival of the European social democracy.