  We propose a new and universal approach to the hadronization problem that
incorporates both partonic and hadronic degrees of freedom in their respective
domains of relevance, and that describes the conversion between them within a
kinetic field theory formulation in real time and full 7-dimensional phase
space. We construct a scale-dependent effective theory that reduces to
perturbative QCD with its scale and chiral symmetry properties at short
space-time distances, but at large distances (r > 1 fm) yields symmetry
breaking gluon and quark condensates plus hadronic excitations. The approach is
applied to the evolution of fragmenting qq~ and gg jet pairs as the system
evolves from the initial 2-jet configuration, via parton showering and cluster
formation, to the final yield of hadrons. The phenomenological implications for
e+e- -> hadrons are investigated, such as the time scale of the transition, and
its energy dependence, cluster size and mass distributions. We compare our
results for particle production and Bose-Einstein correlations with
experimental data, and find an interesting possibility of extracting the basic
parameters of the space-time evolution of the system from Bose enhancement
measurements.
