China's New Red Guards: The Return of Radicalism and the Rebirth of Mao Zedong

A revival of extreme authoritarianism inspired by the Mao era is underway in contemporary China, under the leadership of Xi Jinping. State control over the economy is increasing, civil society is under attack, and the CCP is expanding its reach in unprecedented new ways. This trend is reinforced by a bottom-up revolt against Western ideas of modernity, centered around a cast of nationalist intellectuals and activists. China's New Red Guards will reshape our understanding of the political forces driving contemporary China and demonstrate how ideologies can survive and prosper despite pervasive rumors of their demise.

Format: Hardback
Length: 200 pages
Publication date: 22 August 2019
Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc

Since Deng Xiaoping effectively de-radicalized China in the 1980s, there have been numerous debates about the country's future direction. Would China democratize? Would it embrace capitalism? Would the Communist Party's rule withstand the adoption and spread of the Internet? One debate that did not receive significant attention was whether Mao Zedong would make a political comeback. As Jude Blanchette details in China's New Red Guards, contemporary China is experiencing a revival of an unapologetic embrace of extreme authoritarianism that draws direct inspiration from the Mao era. Under current Chinese leader Xi Jinping, state control over the economy is increasing, civil society is under sustained attack, and the CCP is expanding its reach in unprecedented new ways. As Xi declared in late 2017, the government, military, society, and schools, north, south, east, and west, the party is the leader of all. However, this trend is reinforced by a bottom-up revolt against Western ideas of modernity, including political pluralism, the rule of law, and the free market economy. Centered around a cast of nationalist intellectuals and activists who have helped unleash a wave of populist enthusiasm for the Great Helmsman's policies, China's New Red Guards will reshape our understanding of the political forces driving contemporary China and demonstrate how ideologies can survive and prosper despite pervasive rumors of their demise.

Weight: 452g
Dimension: 240 x 158 x 21 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780190605841