China Under Communism examines how Marxism took root, flourished and developed within the context of an ancient Chinese civilization. Through analysis of China's history and traditional culture, the author explores the nature of Chinese communism and how it has diverged from the Soviet model. This book also provides insight into the changing perceptions Westerners have of the Chinese, and vice versa. Key features include: * assessment of controversial issues: The Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution and Mao's record * coverage of gender and family, ethnicity, nationalism, and popular culture * long historical context. This timely evaluation details how China's political and economic policies have been inextricably linked, and assesses past failures and successes, as well as major problems for the future.
China Under Communism examines how Marxism took root, flourished and developed within the context of an ancient Chinese civilization. Through analysis of China's history and traditional culture, the author explores the nature of Chinese communism and how it has diverged from the Soviet model. This book also provides insight into the changing perceptions Westerners have of the Chinese, and vice versa. Key features include: * assessment of controversial issues: The Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution and Mao's record * coverage of gender and family, ethnicity, nationalism, and popular culture * long historical context. This timely evaluation details how China's political and economic policies have been inextricably linked, and assesses past failures and successes, as well as major problems for the future.
Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China over 70 years ago, five paramount leaders have shaped the fates and fortunes of the nation and the ruling Chinese Communist Party: Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin, Hu Jintao, and Xi Jinping. Under their leaderships, China has undergone an extraordinary transformation from an undeveloped and insular country to a comprehensive world power. In this definitive study, renowned Sinologist David Shambaugh offers a refreshing account of China’s dramatic post-revolutionary history through the prism of those who ruled it. Exploring the persona, formative socialization, psychology, and professional experiences of each leader, Shambaugh shows how their differing leadership styles and tactics of rule shaped China domestically and internationally: Mao was a populist tyrant, Deng a pragmatic Leninist, Jiang a bureaucratic politician, Hu a technocratic apparatchik, and Xi a modern emperor. Covering the full scope of these leaders’ personalities and power, this is an illuminating guide to China’s modern history and understanding how China has become the superpower of today.
Afterlives of Chinese Communism comprises essays from over fifty world- renowned scholars in the China field, from various disciplines and continents. It provides an indispensable guide for understanding how the Mao era continues to shape Chinese politics today. Each chapter discusses a concept or practice from the Mao period, what it attempted to do, and what has become of it since. The authors respond to the legacy of Maoism from numerous perspectives to consider what lessons Chinese communism can offer today, and whether there is a future for the egalitarian politics that it once promised.
Few issues affect the future of China--and hence all the nations that interact with China--more than the nature of its ruling party and government. In this timely study, David Shambaugh assesses the strengths and weaknesses, durability, adaptability, and potential longevity of China's Communist Party (CCP). He argues that although the CCP has been in a protracted state of atrophy, it has undertaken a number of adaptive measures aimed at reinventing itself and strengthening its rule. Shambaugh's investigation draws on a unique set of inner-Party documents and interviews, and he finds that China's Communist Party is resilient and will continue to retain its grip on power. Copub: Woodrow Wilson Center Press
China’s Communist Party seized power in 1949 after a long period of guerrilla insurgency followed by full-scale war, but the Chinese revolution was just beginning. China Under Mao narrates the rise and fall of the Maoist revolutionary state from 1949 to 1976—an epoch of startling accomplishments and disastrous failures, steered by many forces but dominated above all by Mao Zedong. “Walder convincingly shows that the effect of Maoist inequalities still distorts China today...[It] will be a mind-opening book for many (and is a depressing reminder for others).” —Jonathan Mirsky, The Spectator “Andrew Walder’s account of Mao’s time in power is detailed, sophisticated and powerful...Walder takes on many pieces of conventional wisdom about Mao’s China and pulls them apart...What was it that led so much of China’s population to follow Mao’s orders, in effect to launch a civil war against his own party? There is still much more to understand about the bond between Mao and the wider population. As we try to understand that bond, there will be few better guides than Andrew Walder’s book. Sober, measured, meticulous in every deadly detail, it is an essential assessment of one of the world’s most important revolutions.” —Rana Mitter, Times Literary Supplement
The political system established by the Chinese Communist Party in 1949 had its origins, in many respects, in the Chinese Soviet Republic of 1931–1934, based in southern Kiangsi province about 400 miles southwest of Shanghai. The Kiangsi period was important because it gave the Chinese Communists their first opportunity to govern an extensive area and a large population, and in so doing to develop methods of mass mobilization as well as new techniques for conducting party and government affairs. Kim explores the evolution of the Chinese Communist movement during the Kiangsi soviet period, especially its organizational concepts, behavioral patterns, and development techniques of "mass line" politics. He seeks answers to several questions: What notions of organization shaped the Kiangsi political system? Who formulated the policies? How were they implemented at the rice-roots level of government? By analyzing Mao Tse-tung's writings on organization and comparing them with those of other Chinese Communist theoreticians, he achieves fresh insights into Mao's approach to administration and bureaucratic organization. The distinct contribution of this book lies in its focus on such issues as how the Chinese Communist leaders viewed organizational problems within their movement, especially following the failure of the 1947 revolution; how they responded to these problems; and how they maintained a balance of power among the party, the government, and the Red Army while administering the expanding territorial base and managing complex organizations. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1973.
