Patrolling the Revolution ─ Worker Militias, Citizenship, and the Modern Chinese State

Perry (government, Harvard University) examines the construction of revolutionary citizenship and its subsequent implications for state-society relations in contemporary China, arguing that contemporary politics and events, including the post-Mao reforms and the Tiananmen massacre, cannot be understood without looking at the history of the Chinese revolution. Linking China's revolutionary past with its reformist yet repressive present, she raises broad questions about the impact of a revolution upon subsequent political developments. She analyzes the institutional origins of China's worker militia, then chronicles Shanghai's three armed uprisings, China's first and second Leninist party-states between 1927 and 1965, and the great proletarian cultural revolution of 1966-1976. B&w historical and contemporary photos are included. Annotation c2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Elizabeth J. Perry is the Henry Rosovsky Professor of Government at Harvard University.