White, Tyrene

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Swarthmore College Works Political Science Faculty Works Political Science Fall 1988 Review Of "China's Changing Population" By J. Banister Tyrene White Swarthmore College, twhite1@swarthmore.edu This work is brought to you for free and open access by . It has been accepted for inclusion in Political Science Faculty Works by an authorized administrator of Works. For more information, please contact myworks@swarthmore.edu. Follow this and additional works at: https://works.swarthmore.edu/fac-poli-sci  Part of the Political Science Commons Let us know how access to these works benefits you  Recommended Citation Tyrene White. (1988). "Review Of "China's Changing Population" By J. Banister". Pacific Affairs. Volume 61, Issue 3. 499-500. DOI: 10.2307/2760471 https://works.swarthmore.edu/fac-poli-sci/106 China's Changing Population. by Judith BanisterReview by: Tyrene WhitePacific Affairs, Vol. 61, No. 3 (Autumn, 1988), pp. 499-500Published by: Pacific Affairs, University of British ColumbiaStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2760471 .Accessed: 04/12/2014 14:53Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp .JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. .Pacific Affairs, University of British Columbia is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extendaccess to Pacific Affairs.http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 130.58.65.20 on Thu, 4 Dec 2014 14:53:07 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and ConditionsBook Reviews CHINA'S CHANGING POPULATION. By Judith Banister. Stanford: Stanford University Press. 1987. xvz i, 488 pp. (Tables, figures.) US$49.50, cloth. IN THIS COMPREHENSIVE TREATMENT of population trends in the People's Republic of China since 1949, Judith Banister describes and interprets the demographic transition that occurred over the course of thirty-five years. At its best, this volume serves as a lens through which to view the vast panorama of political, social, and economic developments that comprise the history of the People's Republic. At its worst, it is encyclopedic-solid, informative, tedious, but an excellent reference. It is the first work of its kind to make use of China's 1982 census data and fertility survey. The volume is organized around basic demographic themes: health and morbidity, mortality, fertility, population distribution, internal migration and ethnic groups. After describing trends in health care, disease control, and mortality decline, Banister sets the stage for her discussion of fertility with three chapters devoted to the policies that have contributed to China's extraordinary fertility decline since 1970. It is here that the drama of the story unfolds, a drama in two acts. The first act occurred between 1970 and 1977, when intensified family planning efforts and an improved rural health care network resulted in a drop in the birth rate from 37 to 21 per 1000 population (p. 353). The second act began in 1978, and culminated in the one-child policy in effect since 1979. This policy resulted in a further decline in the birth rate, but to enforce it, couples of child-bearing age have been subjected to intense pressure, economic sanctions, and compulsory abortions and sterilizations. Banister documents all of these, as well as the unintended but tragic consequence of increased female infanticide. Her purpose is to disprove the Chinese claim that the program is voluntary, and to prove instead that "the roots of coercion originate from the top" (p. 205), a purpose which may account for the sometimes moralistic and polemical tone of this chapter. She argues correctly that while the state advocates the use of patient persua- sion and education, it simultaneously hands down strict quotas for child- bearing, leaving local cadres to choose between adopting a correct leader- ship style and failing to meet the quotas, or resorting to coercion in order to avoid political and economic sanctions themselves. What is curious, however, is the decision to separate the discussion of the first four years of the campaign (1979-83) from the discussion of the slight relaxation of the policy beginning in 1984. The latter is left for chapter 10, when we discover that widespread resistance to, and unhappi- ness with the policy has led to some limited accommodation on the part of policy makers. This choppiness not only disrupts the narrative on the one-child campaign, it leaves us with confusing messages. Is the Chinese leadership immune to the political, social and human costs of the one-child campaign? Is the population defenseless against the all-intrusive state apparatus? After making a strong argument in the affirmative on both 499 This content downloaded from 130.58.65.20 on Thu, 4 Dec 2014 14:53:07 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and ConditionsPacific Affairs counts, Banister's concluding reflections provide some evidence to the contrary. These puzzles in her narrative cannot detract from the overall quality of this work. Through careful reporting and analysis, the human and demo- graphic consequences of such policy adventures as the Great Leap For- ward, the campaign to send urban youth to the countryside, and minority assimilation efforts come to life. Moreover, her careful analysis of the quality of official Chinese population data and her computer reconstruc- tion of vital rates since 1949 will be an invaluable resource to anyone seeking to interpret official Chinese statistics. Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. TYRENE WHITE HEALTH CARE IN THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA: Moving Toward Modernization. By Marilynn M. Rosenthal. Boulder (Colorado) and London: Westview Press ( Westview Special Studies on China). 1987. xx, 220 pp. (Tables.) US$25.00, paper. THIS VOLUME, a popular account of the Chinese health delivery system, is based on two medical study tours (1979 and 1981) to China by the author and on a limited perusal of primary and secondary literature. Rosenthal divides her work into six chapters. The first chapter (jointly written with Jay Greiner), is a brief review of the development of barefoot doctors from their essentially political origins to their increasing professionalization. Rosenthal believes there is an inherent contradiction in the concept of barefoot doctors and it "is that at the same time the training will become elaborated, Barefoot Doctors will continue to be asked to do agricultural work" (p. 14). Chapter 2, originally published in Social Science and Medicine (Vol. 15A, 1981), describes the integration of Traditional and Western medicine in China. Much of the chapter is based on well-known secondary literature and is now clearly dated. The third chapter, jointly authored with Paul Pongor, contains por- tions which were originally delivered at a 1980 symposium for the Society for Applied Anthropology. The chapter discusses the five-tiered rural health system in 1980. The appendices to this chapter are useful and interesting additions to Rosenthal's analysis. Chapter 4 briefly sketches the family planning process at the local level in 1981; there is no attempt to include in this chapter the important changes since that time. In Chapter 5, there is a discussion of traditional medicines and Rosenthal concludes, "There is also ample evidence that Traditional recipes are being standard- ized and produced as patent medicines thereby changing the original character of Traditional prescribing which was highly individualized. Production is being more highly regulated than ever before" (pp. 165-66). A version of Chapter 6, "Modernization and Health Care in the People's Republic of China: An Overview," originally appeared in the Journal of Medical Practice Management (Winter 1987, vol. 2, no. 3). The author 500 This content downloaded from 130.58.65.20 on Thu, 4 Dec 2014 14:53:07 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Review Of  China\u27s Changing Population  By J. Banister

Swarthmore College 
Works 
Political Science Faculty Works Political Science 
Fall 1988 
Review Of "China's Changing Population" By J. Banister 
Tyrene White 
Swarthmore College, twhite1@swarthmore.edu 
Follow this and additional works at: https://works.swarthmore.edu/fac-poli-sci 
 Part of the Political Science Commons 
Let us know how access to these works benefits you 
 
Recommended Citation 
Tyrene White. (1988). "Review Of "China's Changing Population" By J. Banister". Pacific Affairs. Volume 
61, Issue 3. 499-500. DOI: 10.2307/2760471 
https://works.swarthmore.edu/fac-poli-sci/106 
This work is brought to you for free by Swarthmore College Libraries' Works. It has been accepted for inclusion in 
Political Science Faculty Works by an authorized administrator of Works. For more information, please contact 
myworks@swarthmore.edu. 
China's Changing Population. by Judith Banister
Review by: Tyrene White
Pacific Affairs, Vol. 61, No. 3 (Autumn, 1988), pp. 499-500
Published by: Pacific Affairs, University of British Columbia
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2760471 .
Accessed: 04/12/2014 14:53
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
 .
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
 .
Pacific Affairs, University of British Columbia is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend
access to Pacific Affairs.
http://www.jstor.org 
This content downloaded from 130.58.65.20 on Thu, 4 Dec 2014 14:53:07 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
Book Reviews 
CHINA'S CHANGING POPULATION. By Judith Banister. Stanford: 
Stanford University Press. 1987. xvz i, 488 pp. (Tables, figures.) 
US$49.50, cloth. 
IN THIS COMPREHENSIVE TREATMENT of population trends in the 
People's Republic of China since 1949, Judith Banister describes and 
interprets the demographic transition that occurred over the course of 
thirty-five years. At its best, this volume serves as a lens through which to 
view the vast panorama of political, social, and economic developments 
that comprise the history of the People's Republic. At its worst, it is 
encyclopedic-solid, informative, tedious, but an excellent reference. It is 
the first work of its kind to make use of China's 1982 census data and 
fertility survey. 
The volume is organized around basic demographic themes: health and 
morbidity, mortality, fertility, population distribution, internal migration 
and ethnic groups. After describing trends in health care, disease control, 
and mortality decline, Banister sets the stage for her discussion of fertility 
with three chapters devoted to the policies that have contributed to China's 
extraordinary fertility decline since 1970. It is here that the drama of the 
story unfolds, a drama in two acts. The first act occurred between 1970 and 
1977, when intensified family planning efforts and an improved rural 
health care network resulted in a drop in the birth rate from 37 to 21 per 
1000 population (p. 353). The second act began in 1978, and culminated in 
the one-child policy in effect since 1979. This policy resulted in a further 
decline in the birth rate, but to enforce it, couples of child-bearing age have 
been subjected to intense pressure, economic sanctions, and compulsory 
abortions and sterilizations. 
Banister documents all of these, as well as the unintended but tragic 
consequence of increased female infanticide. Her purpose is to disprove the 
Chinese claim that the program is voluntary, and to prove instead that "the 
roots of coercion originate from the top" (p. 205), a purpose which may 
account for the sometimes moralistic and polemical tone of this chapter. 
She argues correctly that while the state advocates the use of patient persua- 
sion and education, it simultaneously hands down strict quotas for child- 
bearing, leaving local cadres to choose between adopting a correct leader- 
ship style and failing to meet the quotas, or resorting to coercion in order to 
avoid political and economic sanctions themselves. 
What is curious, however, is the decision to separate the discussion of 
the first four years of the campaign (1979-83) from the discussion of the 
slight relaxation of the policy beginning in 1984. The latter is left for 
chapter 10, when we discover that widespread resistance to, and unhappi- 
ness with the policy has led to some limited accommodation on the part of 
policy makers. This choppiness not only disrupts the narrative on the 
one-child campaign, it leaves us with confusing messages. Is the Chinese 
leadership immune to the political, social and human costs of the one-child 
campaign? Is the population defenseless against the all-intrusive state 
apparatus? After making a strong argument in the affirmative on both 
499 
This content downloaded from 130.58.65.20 on Thu, 4 Dec 2014 14:53:07 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
Pacific Affairs 
counts, Banister's concluding reflections provide some evidence to the 
contrary. 
These puzzles in her narrative cannot detract from the overall quality of 
this work. Through careful reporting and analysis, the human and demo- 
graphic consequences of such policy adventures as the Great Leap For- 
ward, the campaign to send urban youth to the countryside, and minority 
assimilation efforts come to life. Moreover, her careful analysis of the 
quality of official Chinese population data and her computer reconstruc- 
tion of vital rates since 1949 will be an invaluable resource to anyone 
seeking to interpret official Chinese statistics. 
Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. TYRENE WHITE 
HEALTH CARE IN THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA: Moving Toward 
Modernization. By Marilynn M. Rosenthal. Boulder (Colorado) and 
London: Westview Press ( Westview Special Studies on China). 1987. 
xx, 220 pp. (Tables.) US$25.00, paper. 
THIS VOLUME, a popular account of the Chinese health delivery 
system, is based on two medical study tours (1979 and 1981) to China by the 
author and on a limited perusal of primary and secondary literature. 
Rosenthal divides her work into six chapters. 
The first chapter (jointly written with Jay Greiner), is a brief review of 
the development of barefoot doctors from their essentially political origins 
to their increasing professionalization. Rosenthal believes there is an 
inherent contradiction in the concept of barefoot doctors and it "is that at 
the same time the training will become elaborated, Barefoot Doctors will 
continue to be asked to do agricultural work" (p. 14). Chapter 2, originally 
published in Social Science and Medicine (Vol. 15A, 1981), describes the 
integration of Traditional and Western medicine in China. Much of the 
chapter is based on well-known secondary literature and is now clearly 
dated. 
The third chapter, jointly authored with Paul Pongor, contains por- 
tions which were originally delivered at a 1980 symposium for the Society 
for Applied Anthropology. The chapter discusses the five-tiered rural 
health system in 1980. The appendices to this chapter are useful and 
interesting additions to Rosenthal's analysis. Chapter 4 briefly sketches the 
family planning process at the local level in 1981; there is no attempt to 
include in this chapter the important changes since that time. In Chapter 5, 
there is a discussion of traditional medicines and Rosenthal concludes, 
"There is also ample evidence that Traditional recipes are being standard- 
ized and produced as patent medicines thereby changing the original 
character of Traditional prescribing which was highly individualized. 
Production is being more highly regulated than ever before" (pp. 165-66). 
A version of Chapter 6, "Modernization and Health Care in the People's 
Republic of China: An Overview," originally appeared in the Journal of 
Medical Practice Management (Winter 1987, vol. 2, no. 3). The author 
500 
This content downloaded from 130.58.65.20 on Thu, 4 Dec 2014 14:53:07 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions


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Review Of China\u27s Changing Population By J. Banister

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