Left in China - A Political Cartography

Tracing the history of left-wing, subversive and oppositional forces in the People's Republic of China over the last seventy years, Ralf Ruckus pulls back the curtain on Chinese politics.
He looks at the labour strikes in the 1950s, the rebel uprising during the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s, the democracy movements in the 1970s and 1980s, the struggles of urban and migrant workers since the 1990s and 2000s, and women's forms of resistance until today. Each of these struggles inspired left-wing groups and movements that criticised or challenged the regime of the Chinese Communist Party, from Mao Zedong's rule to the regime under Xi Jinping.
Is the country still socialist today, the Chinese Communist Party a left-wing organisation, and the leadership indeed Marxist? The book sorts out the confusion by presenting the fascinating history of social movements and left politics in the People's Republic up to the present day.

List of contents

1. Introduction: Understanding the Left in the People's Republic  

2. Against Broken Promises: Workers Claim Equality and Participation in the Socialist 1950s and 1960s

3. For a Better Future: Worker Movements Demand Democratic Reforms in the 1970s and 1980s  

4. Defense and Nostalgia: Social Struggles Drive Leftist Resistance in the 1990s and 2000s

5. Social Unrest and Organizing: Challenges for the CCP in the Capitalist 2000s and 2010s

6. Conclusions: Social Discontent and Left Opposition in Socialism and Capitalism

Epilogue

About the author

Ralf Ruckus has been studying the social, economic, and political situ­ation in the People’s Republic of China for almost twenty years. He co-founded the collective gongchao.org that investigates and documents social unrest and movements in China with a focus on the struggles of workers, migrants, and women.

Summary

A timely, ambitious and unique book that traces the history and present state of leftist politics in China

Product details

• Authors: Ralf Ruckus
• Publisher: Pluto
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 01.02.2023
• EAN: 9780745342955
• ISBN: 978-0-7453-4295-5
• No. of pages: 240
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > Contemporary history (1945 to 1989); Non-fiction book > History > Miscellaneous; China, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Political Freedom, HISTORY / Asia / General, 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000, HISTORY / Asia / China, 21st Century, Later 20th century c 1950 to c 1999, Revolutionary groups & movements, East Asia, Far East, Far-left political ideologies and movements, Asian History, Early 21st century c 2000 to c 2050, Marxism & Communism, c 1945 to c 2000 (Post-war period), Revolutionary groups and movements, HISTORY / Modern / 20th Century / General