Synopses & Reviews
How do we explain the surprising trajectory of the Chinese Communist revolution? Why has it taken such a different route from its Russian prototype? An answer, Elizabeth Perry suggests, lies in the Chinese Communistsand#8217; creative development and deployment of cultural resources and#150; during their revolutionary rise to power and afterwards. Skillful and#147;cultural positioningand#8221; and and#147;cultural patronage,and#8221; on the part of Mao Zedong, his comrades and successors, helped to construct a polity in which a once alien Communist system came to be accepted as familiarly and#147;Chinese.and#8221; Perry traces this process through a case study of the Anyuan coal mine, a place where Mao and other early leaders of the Chinese Communist Party mobilized an influential labor movement at the beginning of their revolution, and whose history later became a touchstone of and#147;political correctnessand#8221; in the Peopleand#8217;s Republic of China. Once known as and#147;Chinaand#8217;s Little Moscow,and#8221; Anyuan came over time to symbolize a distinctively Chinese revolutionary tradition. Yet the meanings of that tradition remain highly contested, as contemporary Chinese debate their revolutionary past in search of a new political future.
Review
"Meticulously researched and elegantly narrated. . . . It is a book well worth reading."--New Bks In East Asian Stds
Review
and#8220;Meticulously researched and elegantly narrated. . . . It is a book well worth reading.and#8221;
Review
"This is Elizabeth Perry at her best: the book achieves its aims and is a pleasure to read."
Review
"Theoretically stimulating, empirically rich, and analytically penetrating . . . essential reading for students of Chinese Communism."
Synopsis
and#147;This book is classic Perry -- elegantly and clearly written, based on rich and previously unexplored source material, full of human detail on political actors at the local level, presenting a gripping narrative and a clear analytical thrust. Perryand#8217;s account of Anyuan is fresh and original, making a convincing case for the areaand#8217;s enduring contribution to the revolution.and#8221; - Joseph W. Esherick, UC San Diego, author of
Ancestral LeavesAbout the Author
Elizabeth Perry is Henry Rosovsky Professor of Government at Harvard University and Director of the Harvard-Yenching Institute. She is the author of many books, most recently: Mao's Invisible Hand: The Political Foundations of Adaptive Governance in China and Patrolling the Revolution: Worker Militias, Citizenship and the Modern Chinese State.