China is in the midst of dramatic economic and social reform―reform that may well suggest a long-term developmental trend toward modernization and democracy. This evolution in the structure of Chinese society means that the authoritarian social control system in China must change if loss of community ties, dislocation, and social disintegration are to be avoided in the coming years. This book provides a blueprint for the social architecture of China and offers an argument for how change in the essential structure of Chinese society must be implemented. Shaw's investigation of work units―the building blocks of contemporary China―pinpoints them as the primary sites of social control and as the most important components of any efforts at reform.