Focusing on economic development in the People's Republic of China beginning at the eve of the communist takeover, this monograph analyzes the ways and patterns in which mass media and interpersonal communication were used to change economically relevant social structures in the interclass confrontation and the part these patterns played in the process of capital formation. Topics covered are: social structural change, including land reform, the "Wu Fan" movement, and the socialist transformation; and surplus value and investment, specifically production increase campaigns and restricted consumption. (FL)