China Against the Tides, 3rd Ed. Restructuring through Revolution, Radicalism and Reform

by Blecher, Marc

• ISBN13: 9780826426987
• ISBN10: 0826426980
• Edition: 3rd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-10-15
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic

Summary

Repeatedly in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, China has, to use a phrase favored by Mao Sedong, moved against the tides of its own great history and of winder international forces. Sometimes it even challenged the waves of revolution that it had itself set in counter-motion to previous currents. Its state went from an imperial monarchy to a short-lived republic to authoritarianism to revolutionary state socialism to market Leninist structural reform. Its economy underwent repeated shifts from crisis to rapid growth. Its society and culture were sundered by imperialism, class struggle, war and modernization, including explosive urbanization, population movement, technological change and transformation of values. How can these changes be comprehended? What has been their effect on China, the world's most populous country? And what is their significance for the rest of the world?

Author Biography

Marc Blecher is Professor of Politics and East Asian Studies at Oberlin College. He is the author of Micropolitics in Contemporary China, Tethered Deer: Government and Economy in a Chinese Country, and dozens of articles on Chinese political economy and the grassroots politics of the Chinese people.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	p. ix
Preface and Acknowledgments	p. xi
Preface and Acknowledgments for the First Edition	p. xiii
Preface and Acknowledgments for the Second Edition	p. xv
Guide to Romanization and Pronunciation	p. xvii
Introduction	p. xix
Imperial Legacy, Capitalist Failure, and Socialist Triumph	p. 1
The Triumph and Crises of Maoist Socialism, 1949-78	p. 27
The Crises and Triumph of Structural Reform, 1979 to the Present	p. 63
The Chinese State	p. 92
Chinese Society	p. 109
Political Economy	p. 131
Politics	p. 166
China and the World	p. 185
Toward the Future: The Consolidation of Market Leninism?	p. 199
Timeline of Major Events in Chinese Politics from the Qing Dynasty to 2009	p. 205
Notes	p. 209
Glossary	p. 219
Bibliography	p. 221
Index	p. 225
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