Chinese Democracy and the Crisis of 1989

Roger V. Des Forges is Associate Professor of History at the State University of New York, Buffalo. He is the author of Hsi-liang and the Chinese National Revolution. Luo Ning is a Post-Doctoral Fellow and Researcher at the Roswell Park Cancer Research Institute in Buffalo. Wu Yen-bo, Ph.D. , is International Student Advisor/Program Coordinator at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.

"This book includes a wide array of excellent articles by Chinese as well as American scholars, reformers as well as independent scholars, representing fields as diverse as economics, history, sociology, political science, literary criticism, and journalism. The Chinese scholars' analyses of trends and events with which they have an intimate familiarity are especially valuable, and the selection raises fascinating questions about the reading of form and content in Chinese propaganda and counter-propaganda. This is a uniquely valuable collection of perspectives on Chinese intellectuals and reformers as activists." — Jerry Dennerline, Amherst College

• Introduction I. Historical Perspectives 1. The Formation and Characteristics of China's Existing SystemSu Shaozhi 2. Democracy in Chinese HistoryRoger V. Des Forges 3. Civil Society and Public Sphere in Modern Chinese HistoryDavid Strand 4. Political and Ideological Origins of the CrisisXu Luo and Luo Ning 5. The Social Origins and Limits of the Democratic MovementMark Selden II. The Rise and Demise of the Movement 6. The Dilemmas of Participation in the Political Reform of China, 1986–1988Wu Guoguang 7. A Review of China's Economic Problems: The Industrial SectorWang Xiaodong 8. Student Organization in the MovementJosephine M. T. Khu 9. From a Pillar of Continuity to a Force for Change: Chinese Workers in the MovementShaoguang Wang 10. Why the People's Army Fired on the PeopleAndrew Scobell11. Democratic Transition in China: A Comparative Examination of a Deified IdeaXiaoxing Han III. Culture, Values, and the Media 12. The Rhetoric of River Elegy : From Cultural Criticism to Social ActEdward Gunn 13. The Performance of the Chinese Media During the Beijing SpringMichael J. Berlin 14. The People's Daily and the Epiphany of Press ReformFrank Tan 15. "Professionalism" in China's Press CorpsJudy Polumbaum 16. Some Reasons Why the Party Propaganda Failed This TimeXinshu Zhao and Peilu Shen Conclusion Contributors Index