The Good Communist

Frank N. Pieke is a Lecturer in Modern Politics and the Society of China at the University of Oxford, and is a Fellow of St Cross College. His previous publications include The Ordinary and the Extraordinary: An Anthropological Study of Chinese Reform and the 1989 People's Movement in Beijing (1996) and he was the co-author of Transnational Chinese: Fujianese Migrants in Europe (2004).

'Pieke's seminal contribution is of pressing importance not only to anthropologists interested in the ways in which political power comes to be reproduced and refracted, but, obviously, also to students of politics as well. The underlying dynamics of China's resilient brand of 'adaptive authoritarianism' have emerged as a key research puzzle for students of comparative politics, to whom Pieke's work should also speak volumes.' Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute

• Preface; 1. Socialism, capitalism and the anthropology of neo-socialist rule; 2. Cadres, cadre training and party schools; 3. Cadre education and training in the twenty-first century; 4. Life and work at party schools; 5. Marketization and centralization of cadre education and training; 6. Cadre training, cadre careers and the changing composition of China's political elite; 7. Conclusions: cadre training and the future of party rule; Appendix 1. List of interviewees; Appendix 2. Questionnaire survey; Appendix 3. Glossary of Chinese terms; References.