Youth Socialization and Political Recruitment in Post-Mao China

Abstract

The basic underlying theme running through the majority of the selections included here-on youth values and party and military recruitment-is that Chinese youth in the 1980s are very different from their counterparts in the 1950s and early 1960s, and the consequences that follow from that discovery. The readings comprise reports on college and university students (selections 1, 2, 3, 6, and 7), staff and workers in state enterprises (selections 8 and 10), workers in neighborhood collective enterprises (selection 9), and military recruits (selection 11). A broader view of the effects of political socialization is obtained by including the survey on the Chinese public's awareness of and interest in the State Constitution (selection 5) and the report on the knowledge children have regarding the Chinese Communist Party and communism (selection 4).