Preface Introduction by Theodore Huters The 1989 Social Movement and the Historical Roots of China's
This is the most radical, tough-minded, and sustained analysis of 1989 and all that has followed that I have read. The punchy prose style gives the book an urgent, even strident, edge that makes it a pleasure to read. You feel yourself in the presence of a strong mind, as well as someone who cares deeply about the issues at stake here - issues of social inequality, social injustice, and a hegemonic world order committed to perpetuating both. -- Tim Brook, University of Toronto The contents of this book are intelligent and significant. Brought together they will make available to English readers a substantial selection of one of China's most influential public scholars today. Wang Hui is very important in contemporary Chinese intellectual life both for his numerous (and controversial) writings but also for his role as an editor of Dushu ['Reading'], China's most popular general intellectual journal. -- Tim Cheek, University of British Columbia This is an incisive, brilliant, always challenging analysis of China's intellectual landscape in the 1990s with the asserted triumph of "neo-liberalism" in the political economy over the reformist social movement of the late 1980s that culminated in Tiananmen. The discussion of the 1989 movement (and indeed later developments in economics and politics) in a global context is compelling and, at this level of analysis, unique among studies on the events of that difficult year. The analysis of debates of the '90s shows (at least to my mind) how problematic has been any effort to re-think, from the bottom up, the intellectual foundations of the modern Chinese state and indeed of "modernity" itself in China. -- William C. Kirby, Harvard University Wang Hui, one of China's preeminent intellectuals, makes an impassioned critique of China's much heralded post-Mao economic reforms, which he condemns for causing economic inequalities, social polarization, and political corruption. The essays in China's New Order convey the sense of moral concern and historic perspective of Wang Hui's literati ancestors, at the same time that they reveal the variety and complexity of China's present-day intellectual and political debates. -- Merle Goldman, Boston University
Wang Hui is Professor of Literature and History at Tsinghua University in Beijing. Theodore Huters is Professor Emeritus of Chinese in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of California, Los Angeles. Rebecca E. Karl is Assistant Professor of East Asian Studies and History at New York University.
This is the most radical, tough-minded, and sustained analysis of
1989 and all that has followed that I have read. The punchy prose
style gives the book an urgent, even strident, edge that makes it a
pleasure to read. You feel yourself in the presence of a strong
mind, as well as someone who cares deeply about the issues at stake
here - issues of social inequality, social injustice, and a
hegemonic world order committed to perpetuating both.
*Tim Brook, University of Toronto*
The contents of this book are intelligent and significant. Brought
together they will make available to English readers a substantial
selection of one of China's most influential public scholars today.
Wang Hui is very important in contemporary Chinese intellectual
life both for his numerous (and controversial) writings but also
for his role as an editor of Dushu ['Reading'], China's most
popular general intellectual journal.
*Tim Cheek, University of British Columbia*
This is an incisive, brilliant, always challenging analysis of
China's intellectual landscape in the 1990s with the asserted
triumph of "neo-liberalism" in the political economy over the
reformist social movement of the late 1980s that culminated in
Tiananmen. The discussion of the 1989 movement (and indeed later
developments in economics and politics) in a global context is
compelling and, at this level of analysis, unique among studies on
the events of that difficult year. The analysis of debates of the
'90s shows (at least to my mind) how problematic has been any
effort to re-think, from the bottom up, the intellectual
foundations of the modern Chinese state and indeed of "modernity"
itself in China.
*William C. Kirby, Harvard University*
Wang Hui, one of China's preeminent intellectuals, makes an
impassioned critique of China's much heralded post-Mao economic
reforms, which he condemns for causing economic inequalities,
social polarization, and political corruption. The essays in
China's New Order convey the sense of moral concern and historic
perspective of Wang Hui's literati ancestors, at the same time that
they reveal the variety and complexity of China's present-day
intellectual and political debates.
*Merle Goldman, Boston University*
Unlike most other contemporary critics of China's reforms, Mr. Wang
does not limit himself to economics. He dissects the big picture,
calling on reformers to include culture, values and democratic
governance in their assessments of success and failure. Such a
critique is long overdue...Mr. Wang has become one of the first
indigenous voices to critique China's 'economic miracle' fully and
publicly and to find it a deficient remedy for the failures of
socialism.
*New York Times*
The essential arguments are comprehensible and stimulating for
Chinese intellectuals as well as for those Westerners who insist
that post-Mao China is roaring down the right track, that money
pushes aside the old political stupidities, and economic progress
leads eventually to democracy. These are the assumptions Wang seeks
to rebut and his rebuttal will be uncomfortable reading for those
who see capitalism as a moral driving force as well as an enriching
one.
*Far Eastern Economic Review*
This book offers a powerful analysis of China and the
transformations it has experienced since 1989. Wang Hui offers an
insiders knowledge of economics, politics, civilisation, and
Western critical theory. A participant in the Tianamen Square
movement, he is also the editor of the most important intellectual
journal in contemporary China. Wang Hui argues that the features of
China today are elements of the new global order as a whole in
which considerations of economic growth and development have
trumped every other concern, particularly those of democracy and
social justice. The plea at the heart of the book is for economic
and social justice and an indictment of the corruption caused by
the explosion of 'market forces.'
*The Asian Art Newspaper*
Wang's problem comes when Westerners and Chinese alike misread
reform as apologia for the past. Socialism may be lost, he reminds
us, but its reason for being will remain unless China and the rest
of the world can protect against the laissez-faire injustices
inherent to global capital.
*Village Voice*
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