Synopses & Reviews
This book examines the relationship between the Communist political elite and the largely anti-Communist intellectual elite during the decade of reform (1977-1989). The author, who was a participant in these events, shows how intellectuals gained control of state institutions and organized resistance to the Deng Xiaoping regime. The book will be of interest to students of China and of comparative communism.
Review
"...an impressive book. It is both well-written and well-structured. It is also a work of true scholarship, and constitutes a largely successful blend of deep theorizing and detailed empiricism. His appendix on methodology is refreshingly honest and sensitive." Leslie Holmes, American Political Science Review"...addresses one of the most important issues in contemporary China....Ding's analysis is intriguing and should be seriously examined. It is a refreshing rejoinder to the often simplistic and culturally narrow concept of 'civil society' recently used in examining the origins of Spring 1989....engrossing reading." Lawrence Sullivan, China Journal"There have been several good studies done recently on political elites in post-Mao China. This book is a valuble contribution to this growing literature .... Ding's work is groundbreaking. It documents in great detail how the counterelites in China have gone about their work and is a significant contribution to the study of behavior." Steven J. Hood, China Review International
Synopsis
This book analyses elite politics in China during the decade of reform (1977 1989).
Synopsis
This book begins by asking, How could it be that under the Deng regime, when the People's Republic of China experienced its greatest economic prosperity, the largest and most tragically concluded popular protest took place? To answer this question the author examines, from the viewpoint of a participant, the relations between the Communist political elite and the largely anti-Communist intellectual elite during the decade of reform (1977-89). He shows how the Deng Xiaoping regime precipitated a legitimacy crisis by encouraging economic reform while preventing political reform: By departing from the economic guidelines of Maoism, the leadership undermined the basis of its own authority. Justifying this policy in the eyes of both the ruling political elite and the increasingly powerful intellectual elite proved increasingly difficult. In addition to demonstrating the role intellectuals played in shaking Communist-party rule, the book offers a theoretical model to explain how they were able to do so. The author's concept of "institutional parasitism" depicts how, rather than developing separate institutions, resistance to the ruling political elite occupied state structures from which oppositional activity was carried out. In challenging the state versus civil society model, this book makes an important contribution to understanding changing state-society relations in late communism, and the dynamics of the transition from communism. It will be of interest to both scholars of China and students of comparative communism.
Table of Contents
Introduction; Part I: 1. Theoretical and comparative issues; 2. The counter-elite and its institutional basis; Part II: 3. âThe movement to âemancipate the mindâand the counter-eliteâs response; 4. âBuilding socialist spiritual civilisationâand the counter-eliteâs response; 5. Two contending patriotic campaigns; 6. Admission of the âprimary stage of socialismâand the counter-eliteâs two development models; Concluding remarks; Appendix; Selected bibliography; Index.