This book reveals the covert operations of Mao's public security organs through an examination of the recruitment of agents, their training and their operational activities.
“If you’re not living on the edge, you’re taking up too much space.” —Jim Whittaker, first American to climb Mt. Everest A leader’s job—in a radically changing world—is standing on the cliff edge, getting a grip on unfamiliar landscapes, and acquiring the skills for leading the enterprise into new territory. In a world facing the unprecedented challenges of global pandemic and economic distruption, every leader needs to find the edge for leaping across the breach and breaking new ground on the other side. Michael Useem provides rare insight into how ten leaders confronted hard realities. He looked close-in at the lide and work of people such as Bill McNabb of Vanguard, Jeffrey Lurie of the Philadelphia Eagles, Alex Gorsky of Johnson & Johnson, and Tricia Griffith of Progressive Insurance. His “you are there” profiles chronicle fateful decisions such as: Meeting the concerns of a next-generation workforce that considers inclusiveness an integral part of business Developing a strategy for growth in a market that is cratering Escaping the confines of an insane, always-on, 24/7 world to learn about the real, granular changes happening in the marketplace Useem’s profiles of leaders on the edge provide the inspiration and the guidance we all need for adapting and thriving in an era of massive disruption and continuous transformation.
How violent events and autocratic parties trigger democratic change How do democracies emerge? Shock to the System presents a novel theory of democratization that focuses on how events like coups, wars, and elections disrupt autocratic regimes and trigger democratic change. Employing the broadest qualitative and quantitative analyses of democratization to date, Michael Miller demonstrates that more than nine in ten transitions since 1800 occur in one of two ways: countries democratize following a major violent shock or an established ruling party democratizes through elections and regains power within democracy. This framework fundamentally reorients theories on democratization by showing that violent upheavals and the preservation of autocrats in power—events typically viewed as antithetical to democracy—are in fact central to its foundation. Through in-depth examinations of 139 democratic transitions, Miller shows how democratization frequently follows both domestic shocks (coups, civil wars, and assassinations) and international shocks (defeat in war and withdrawal of an autocratic hegemon) due to autocratic insecurity and openings for opposition actors. He also shows how transitions guided by ruling parties spring from their electoral confidence in democracy. Both contexts limit the power autocrats sacrifice by accepting democratization, smoothing along the transition. Miller provides new insights into democratization’s predictors, the limited gains from events like the Arab Spring, the best routes to democratization for long-term stability, and the future of global democracy. Disputing commonly held ideas about violent events and their effects on democracy, Shock to the System offers new perspectives on how regimes are transformed.
China's transformation in the last few decades has been perhaps the most remarkable -- and most controversial -- development in modern history. Barely a century removed from the struggling and out-dated Qing Empire, China has managed to reinvent itself on an unprecedented scale: from Empire, to Communist state, to hybrid capitalist superpower. Yet the full implications of China's rapid march to modernity are not widely understood - particularly, the effects of China's meteoric rise on the nation's many ethnic minorities. China: A Modern History is the definitive guide to this complex contemporary phenomenon. Deng Xiaoping's 1980s policy of 'reform and opening', which saw China enter the world market, is only the most recent in a series of dramatic shifts that have transformed Chinese society over the past 150 years. China: A Modern History explores these contrasts in detail, while also highlighting the enduring values which have informed Chinese identity for millennia. Beginning with the waning years of the Qing dynasty, Dillon compellingly recounts the 19th-century period of 'national humiliation', when China became a virtual colony of the Western powers and Japan. Nationalists brought down the humbled Celestial Empire in 1911, ushering in a long period of discord from which Mao's Chinese Communist Party emerged bloodily triumphant in 1949. In a society still overwhelmingly agricultural, Mao's colossal structural changes propelled China to superpower status - but at an enormous human toll. By Mao's death in 1976, programmes like the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution had once more brought China to the brink of total collapse. It was at this moment that, against all odds, China recast itself yet again: this time, under the visionary leadership of Deng Xiaoping, as a nation of 'Socialism with Chinese characteristics'. Informed by both ancient and contemporary values, China has entered the new century on a powerful footing, commanding unprecedented financial and industrial resources - prepared to meet the West on its own terms. Michael Dillon's China: A Modern History is essential reading for those interested in the past, present and future course of one of the world's great nations. Clearly and compellingly written, this will stand as the best introduction to this spectacular and still-unfinished story.
Exam board: AQA; Pearson Edexcel Level: AS/A-level Subject: History First teaching: September 2015 First exams: Summer 2016 (AS); Summer 2017 (A-level) Put your trust in the textbook series that has given thousands of A-level History students deeper knowledge and better grades for over 30 years. Updated to meet the demands of today's A-level specifications, this new generation of Access to History titles includes accurate exam guidance based on examiners' reports, free online activity worksheets and contextual information that underpins students' understanding of the period. - Develop strong historical knowledge: in-depth analysis of each topic is both authoritative and accessible - Build historical skills and understanding: downloadable activity worksheets can be used independently by students or edited by teachers for classwork and homework - Learn, remember and connect important events and people: an introduction to the period, summary diagrams, timelines and links to additional online resources support lessons, revision and coursework - Achieve exam success: practical advice matched to the requirements of your A-level specification incorporates the lessons learnt from previous exams - Engage with sources, interpretations and the latest historical research: students will evaluate a rich collection of visual and written materials, plus key debates that examine the views of different historians
By turns informative, infuriating and inspirational, Murphy, Peters and Marginson's Imagination is clearly the most critical of the three volumes in the series. Perhaps as a result, it is very good to think with." Andrew Miler, Professor of Cultural Studies, Monash University --Book Jacket.
An engaging and original historical portrait of eight of the most influential political figures of the twentieth century: Woodrow Wilson, Lenin, Hitler, Churchill, FDR, Gandhi, David Ben-Gurion, and Mao. The Titans of the Twentieth Century addresses an age-old question: what is the impact of individuals on history? The first half of the twentieth century offered political leaders enormous scope for changing the world. This book consists of essays about eight who, for better and for worse, did just that. Woodrow Wilson had a vision for a cooperative world order that failed after the First World War but gained in influence after the Second. Vladimir Ilich Lenin founded the totalitarian communist political system that controlled a large part of the planet for much of the twentieth century. Adolf Hitler started history's worst war and presided over history's worst atrocity, the Holocaust. Winston Churchill provided inspiring leadership to Great Britain, which made it possible to defeat Nazi Germany in World War II. Franklin D. Roosevelt steered the United States through the Great Depression and the Second World War. Mohandas Gandhi led the movement, and developed the philosophy of non-violence, that ended British rule in South Asia, paving the way for the end of empires throughout Asia and Africa. David Ben-Gurion led the miraculous restoration of Jewish sovereignty in the Holy Land. Mao Zedong, imposed totalitarian communist rule on China and became history's most egregious mass murderer. Individually, each chapter offers fresh and often surprising portraits of the twentieth century's titans. Collectively, the essays present a vivid and revealing portrait of a turbulent half-century that shaped the world of today.
The relationship between the United States and China will be of critical importance to the world throughout the twenty-first century. In the West China’s rise is often portrayed as a threat and China seen in negative terms. This book explores the dynamics of this crucial relationship. It looks in particular at what causes an international relationship to be perceived negatively, and considers what can be done to reverse this, arguing that trust is a key factor. It goes on to discuss US and Chinese rhetoric and behaviour in three key areas – climate change, finance, and international security. The book contends that, contrary to much US rhetoric, China’s actions in these areas is often much more flexible and accommodating than the US position, and that the Chinese are much more knowledgeable about, and understanding and appreciative of, the United States than vice versa.
Michael Lynch’s second edition of Mao examines the life of this controversial figure. Opening with a detailed chronology, it delves into Mao’s younger years and tracks his gradual rise to power, with a chapter dedicated to the cult status that surrounded him. Through a wealth of primary and secondary sources and a balanced consideration of the conflicting views that surround Mao’s leadership, this book provides a thorough exploration of Mao’s political and private life. Key features of the second edition include a detailed analysis of the Long March, an account of Sino-Japanese relations and an assessment of Mao’s ongoing legacy. This biography will be essential reading for anyone interested in Mao and the politics of twentieth-century China.
This book presents a concise introduction to contemporary China. It is intended as a first book for those coming new to the subject, providing the essential information that most people need to know, without going into excessive detail. Its coverage includes the economy, society, politics and international relations; China's history, especially the twentieth century; and Taiwan and Hong Kong as well as the People's Republic of China. The book provides an up-to-date and clear guide to the often bewildering changes which have taken place in China in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. It draws on the enormous body of empirical and theoretical research that is being carried out by economists, political scientists and sociologists on contemporary China, but is itself written in non-technical and accessible language. It does not assume any previous knowledge of China and explanations of Chinese terms are provided throughout the book. It includes a map, a chronology, a glossary of Chinese terms, biographical notes on key figures, and a guide to further reading.
This book describes Trumpism: the strong allegiance to former President Donald Trump that is in evidence among a sizable portion of the US population. How did Trump come to be elected in 2016, and who supported him during his presidential tenure - and why? How is it that he continues to hold cult-like status, exerting a strong influence not only on many individuals but also on numerous elected officials, despite his defeat in 2020? Why does his character continue to be an object of fascination even among anti-Trumpists, and why will Trumpism continue to play a major role in the American sociopolitical landscape even now he has left the presidential stage? Michael J. Diamond ponders these questions through the lenses of American history and culture, political theory, social phenomena, group dynamics, and psychoanalysis. In exploring the relationship between large-group regression, cultism, destructive populism, delusional thinking, conspiratorial beliefs, authoritarianism, and leadership characterised by narcissism and paranoia, psychoanalytic ideas pertaining to group dynamics, malignant regression, and leadership are brought into play. Prominent psychoanalytic thinkers who have addressed these topics and whose work usefully contributes to the discussion include Bion, Freud, Fromm, Bollas, Kernberg, Lifton, Rosenfeld, and Volkan, as well as Bleger, Jaques, and several more recent Kleinian/Bionian-influenced analysts. Most important, the book makes use of these understandings to reestablish a sufficiently containing frame that strengthens the body politics' nonpathological elements in order to come to grips with these disturbing factors. Whatever their political beliefs, psychoanalysts in the US and worldwide will find much to think about in reading this book's application of their discipline to today's sociopolitical environment. In addition, the book's insights extend beyond arguments targeting a strictly psychoanalytic audience in order to reach social and political thinkers, as well as activists, who are deeply concerned about dangers threatening the very foundations of democracy in the US and worldwide. And finally, the thoughtful lay person will appreciate the accessibility to all these fields that the book provides, and will come away with a much deeper understanding of just what motivates us to take a stand for or against a given political figure. In short, conceptual tools are provided that lead to greater understanding as well as effective strategies and tactics for containment of destructive forces - largely unconscious ones - that imperil our society.
This frontline volume contributes to the social study of education in general and literacy in particular by bringing together in a new way the traditions of language, ethnography, and education. Integrating New Literacy Studies and Bourdieusian sociology with ethnographic approaches to the study of classroom practice, it offers an original and useful reference point for scholars and students of education, language, and literacy wishing to incorporate Bourdieu’s ideas into their work. More than just a set of stand-alone chapters around social perspectives on language interactions in classrooms, this book develops and unfolds dialogically across three sections: Bridging New Literacy Studies and Bourdieu – Principles; Language, Ethnography and Education - Practical Studies; Working at the Intersections – In Theory and Practice. The authors posit ‘Classroom Language Ethnography’ as a genuinely new perspective with rich and developed traditions behind it, but distinct from conventional approaches to literacy and education — an approach that bridges those traditions to yield fresh insights on literacy in all its manifestations, thereby providing a pathway to more robust research on language in education.
One of the most important figures in global politics during the second half of the 20th century; Deng Xiaoping is generally considered the central figure behind China's economic liberalization programme that produced historically unprecedented growth rates and development beginning in the late 1970s. Lifting nearly a billion people out of poverty, Deng Xiaoping's 'Four Modernisations' called for reform in agriculture, industry, military, and science and technology. Today these reforms are considered to be the crucial turning point in modern Chinese history, enabling China to effectively harness its previously-latent power in its quest to become a global economic superpower. Just ten years after this tremendous achievement, Deng's brutal suppression of the democracy movement at Tiananmen Square severely undermined his international and domestic reputation. To explain the seeming contradictions between Deng Xiaoping's desire for economic liberalization and political conservatism, Michael Dillon's biography utilizes recently-released Chinese sources to detail Deng Xiaoping's emergence from a minority, second-class community in the Sichuan province, via education in France, to his meteoric rise to the top of the CCP's political hierarchy, illustrating the ways in which his life of struggle and survival shaped his political career. Dillon's biography addresses Xiaoping as both an intensely committed communist capable of playing a principal role in the Great Leap Forward from 1958 to 1961, while incurring the wrath of Mao only ten years later as he was exiled and purged during the Cultural Revolution. Emphasizing Deng Xiaoping's effectiveness as a party operator and political bruiser rather than an intellectual capable of formulating the reforms for which he eventually took credit, this book sheds light on Deng's ability to capitalize upon the planning expertise of other party members. This biography of the central figure in China's economic liberalization is essential for any reader interested in or affected by China's rise to global prominence.
Exam Board: AQA, Edexcel, OCR & WJEC Level: A-level Subject: History First Teaching: September 2015 First Exam: June 2016 Give your students the best chance of success with this tried and tested series, combining in-depth analysis, engaging narrative and accessibility. Access to History is the most popular, trusted and wide-ranging series for A-level History students. This title: - Supports the content and assessment requirements of the 2015 A-level History specifications - Contains authoritative and engaging content - Includes thought-provoking key debates that examine the opposing views and approaches of historians - Provides exam-style questions and guidance for each relevant specification to help students understand how to apply what they have learnt This title is suitable for a variety of courses including: - AQA: The Transformation of China, 1937-1997 - Edexcel: Mao's China, 1949-76
Much has been said about the re-emergence of China to its historical position of eminence in the world economy, yet little is understood about the kind of economic system China is evolving. What are the rules of the game of business in today's China, and how are they likely to change over the next decades? The answers to these questions are crucial to business persons formulating strategy toward China, but also for policy-makers concerned with retaining the competitiveness of their nations in the face of Chinese competition and for researchers seeking to gain deeper insights into the workings of economic systems and institutional change. Written by two leading experts in the field, this book sheds much-needed light on these questions. Building on recent conceptual and empirical advances, and rich in concrete examples, it offers a comprehensive and systematic exploration of present-day Chinese capitalism, its component parts, and their interdependencies. It suggests that Chinese capitalism, as practiced today, in many respects represents a development from traditional business practices, whose revival has been greatly aided by the influx of investments and managerial talent from the Regional Ethnic Chinese. On the basis of present trends in the Chinese economy as well as through comparison with five major types of capitalism - those of France, Germany, Japan, Korea, and the United States - the book derives a prediction of the probable development paths of Chinese capitalism and its likely competitive strengths and weaknesses.
The 2012 presidential campaign will, above all else, be a referendum on the Obama administration's handling of the financial crisis, recalling the period when Obama's "audacity of hope" met the austerity of reality. Central to this is the ''American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009'' -- the largest economic recovery plan in American history. Senator Mitch McConnell gave a taste of the enormity of the money committed: if you had spent 1 million a day since Jesus was born, it still would not add up to the price tag of the stimulus package. A nearly entirely partisan piece of legislation -- Democrats voted for it, Republicans against -- the story of how the bill was passed and, more importantly, how the money was spent and to what effect, is known barely at all. Stepping outside the political fray, ProPublica's Michael Grabell offers a perceptive, balanced, and dramatic story of what happened to the tax payers' money, pursuing the big question through behind-the-scenes interviews and on-the-ground reporting in more than a dozen states across the country.
Beyond Liberalism and Communism: Socialist Theory and the Chinese Case presents a new conceptual framework of socialism and applies it to the study of socialist development in China, shedding new light on modern China and signposting novel directions in socialist thought. Based on a Marxian-Polanyian approach, the book develops a new conceptual framework of socialism by taking the liberal and the communist challenges seriously. In doing so, Brie develops a liberal and a communist formula of socialism based upon two owners of socialist property (the individuals and the society), different forms of possession (public, common, associative, and individual) meditating the interests of the two opposite owners, and democracy as an expression of the will of the many and of all together in common. This formula is then applied to socialist development in China, analysing its booming centrally directed economy and the political ways to safeguard democracy as the rule of, for, and by the people under the Chinese Communist Party. With an analysis of the means by which China has pursued a unique form of socialist development, Beyond Liberalism and Communism: Socialist Theory and the Chinese Case will appeal to scholars of modern China, political theory, political sociology, and socialist thought.
Enigmatic, Eminence grise, the 'power behind the throne' – these phrases sum up Zhou Enlai's long and varied, but always pivotal, political career in the Chinese Communist Party from the 1920s to 1970s. Born in 1898, Zhou witnessed several of the most important events in China's modern history and was a close associate of both the nationalist leader Chiang Kai-Shek and communist leader Mao Zedong, whom he served under as China's first premier from 1949 until 1976. Zhou was also a major ally of Deng Xiaoping – a source, for example, of major influence on his 'Four Modernizations' in agriculture, industry, science and technology, and the military. He was thus the prime architect of China's drive towards superpower status and one of the key determinants of China's central role in the modern world. Zhou does not conform readily to any of the stereotypes of communist leaders, Chinese or otherwise. Cultivated and urbane, he was a sympathetic and intellectual character, who was well-liked by non-communists, foreigners and his staff. He was one of the most complex figures in the politics of contemporary China, and certainly one of the most interesting, although his influence was never all that obvious. In this book, Michael Dillon restores him to his rightful place in history and analyses the role of a man who was 'a genuine statesman rather than just a political operator'.
Inside the engine-room of China's economic growth—the China Development Bank Anyone wanting a primer on the secret of China's economic success need look no further than China Development Bank (CDB)—which has displaced the World Bank as the world's biggest development bank, lending billions to countries around the globe to further Chinese policy goals. In China’s Superbank, Bloomberg authors Michael Forsythe and Henry Sanderson outline how the bank is at the center of China's domestic economic growth and how it is helping to expand China's influence in strategically important overseas markets. 100 percent owned by the Chinese government, the CDB holds the key to understanding the inner workings of China's state-led economic development model, and its most glaring flaws. The bank is at the center of the country's efforts to build a world-class network of highways, railroads, and power grids, pioneering a lending scheme to local governments that threatens to spawn trillions of yuan in bad loans. It is doling out credit lines by the billions to Chinese solar and wind power makers, threatening to bury global competitors with a flood of cheap products. Another $45 billion in credit has been given to the country's two biggest telecom equipment makers who are using the money to win contracts around the globe, helping fulfill the goal of China's leaders for its leading companies to "go global." Bringing the story of China Development Bank to life by crisscrossing China to investigate the quality of its loans, China’s Superbank travels the globe, from Africa, where its China-Africa fund is displacing Western lenders in a battle for influence, to the oil fields of Venezuela. Offers a fascinating insight into the China Development Bank (CDB), the driver of China's rapid economic development Travels the globe to show how the CDB is helping Chinese businesses "go global" Written by two respected reporters at Bloomberg News As China's influence continues to grow around the world, many people are asking how far it will extend. China’s Superbank addresses these vital questions, looking at the institution at the heart of this growth.
Examining the improvised relationships among lifelong learning, formal education, and creativity, this volume provides detailed case studies of the creative work of people from a wide variety of fields. Each profile allows readers to explore how real people’s distinctive points of view, senses of purpose, and ultimate contributions developed through participation in complex worlds. By looking at creativity as a distributed and participatory process, these cases deconstruct the myth of solitary creative genius, while exploring applications of complexity theory to creative work and raising new questions for creativity research. Providing a framework for thinking about education, agency, and change, this book is valuable for both students and researchers seeking concrete ways to broaden their understanding of creativity in practice.
The renowned IB Diploma History series, combining compelling narratives with academic rigor. A new edition for World History Topic 10: Authoritarian states (20th Century) An authoritative and engaging narrative, with the widest variety of sources at this level, helping students to develop their knowledge and analytical skills. This second edition of Access to History for the IB Diploma: Origins and development of authoritarian and single-party states provides: - Reliable, clear and in-depth content from topic experts - Analysis of the historiography surrounding key debates - Dedicated exam practice with model answers and practice questions - TOK support and Historical Investigation questions to help with all aspects of the Diploma
Is your firm’s board creating value—or destroying it? Change is coming. Leadership at the top is being redefined as boards take a more active role in decisions that once belonged solely to the CEO. But for all the advantages of increased board engagement, it can create debilitating questions of authority and dangerous meddling in day-to-day operations. Directors need a new road map—for when to lead, when to partner, and when to stay out of the way. Boardroom veterans Ram Charan, Dennis Carey, and Michael Useem advocate this new governance model—a sharp departure from what has been demanded by governance activists, raters, and regulators—and reveal the emerging practices that are defining shared leadership of directors and executives. Based on personal interviews and the authors’ broad and deep experience working with executives and directors from dozens of the world’s largest firms, including Apple, Boeing, Ford, Infosys, and Lenovo, Boards That Lead tells the inside story behind the successes and pitfalls of this new leadership model and explains how to: • Define the central idea of the company • Ensure that the right CEO is in place and potential successors are identified • Recruit directors who add value • Root out board dysfunction • Select a board leader who deftly bridges the divide between management and the board • Set a high bar on ethics and risk With a total of eighteen checklists that will transform board directors from monitors to leaders, Charan, Carey, and Useem provide a smart and practical guide for businesspeople everywhere—whether they occupy the boardroom or the C-suite.
This is a reference on the ten years (1978 to 1987) of Deng Xiaoping's power in China. It also offers the views of Sinologists of the time. The concluding section examines policy implications arising from Deng's rule for the four great East Asian powers.
Psychology, nuclear crises, and foreign policy -- The Soviet Union, 1956-1962 -- Pakistan, 1998-2002 -- Further tests : Kennedy, Vajpayee, Nixon, and Mao -- Conclusion : when proliferation causes peace
This innovative study, explores the relevance of class as a theoretical category in our world today, arguing that leading traditions of class analysis have missed major elements of what class is and how it operates. It combines instersectional theory and materialism to show that culture, economics, ideology, and consciousness are all factors that go into making “class” meaningful. Using a historical lens, it studies the experiences of working class peoples, from migrant farm workers in California’s central valley, to the “factory girls” of New England, and black workers in the South to explore the variety of working-class experiences. It investigates how the concepts of racial capitalism and black feminist thought, when applied to class studies and popular movements, allow us to walk and chew gum at the same time—to recognize that our movements can be diverse and particularistic as well as have elements of the universal experience shared by all workers. Ultimately, it argues that class is made up of all of us, it is of ourselves, in all our contradiction and complexity.
Is the Confucian tradition compatible with the Western understanding of human rights? Are there fundamental human values, regardless of cultural differences, common to all peoples of all nations? At this critical point in Communist China's history, eighteen distinguished scholars address the role of Confucianism in dealing with questions of universal human rights.
Extensively revised and fully updated in this sixth edition, this popular textbook conveys the drama of China’s struggle to modernize against the backdrop of a proud and difficult history. Featuring a new analysis of the issues facing China’s fifth generation of leaders, it explores prominent developments including China’s relations with its neighbors and the United States, the humanitarian crises in Tibet and Xinjiang, and the progression of Xi Jinping. Incorporating new analytical summaries in each chapter and updated suggested readings, this new edition covers: The breakdown of imperial China in the face of Japanese and Western encroachments The struggles between the ideologies and armies of Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong Mao Zedong’s Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution Deng Xiaoping’s reforms and the resulting dismantling of socialism and economic growth • China’s position as a world superpower and Xi Jinping’s leadership The Covid-19 pandemic Spanning the years from China’s defeat in the Opium Wars to its current status as a world superpower, the sixth edition of Modernization and Revolution in China is an essential textbook for courses on modern Chinese history, Chinese politics, and modern East Asia.
Examines civil-military relations in China. Reflects the significant changes taking place in Chinese society and their impact on the civil-military dynamic, with particular attention to how the military will fit in with the new class of entrepreneurs.
Explains why Mao launched the Cultural Revolution, and shows his Machiavellian role in masterminding it. This book documents the Hobbesian state that ensued. Power struggles raged among Lin Biao, Zhou Enlai, Deng Xiaoping, and Jiang Qing - Mao's wife and leader of the Gang of Four - while Mao often played one against the other.
This book provides a richly documented account of the historical, cultural, philosophical and practical dimensions of feng shui. It argues that where feng shui is entrenched educational systems have a responsibility to examine its claims, and that this examination provides opportunities for students to better learn about the key features of the nature of science, the demarcation of science and non-science, the characteristics of pseudoscience, and the engagement of science with culture and worldviews. The arguments presented for feng shui being a pseudoscience can be marshalled when considering a whole range of comparable beliefs and the educational benefit of their appraisal. Feng shui is a deeply-entrenched, three-millennia-old system of Asian beliefs and practices about nature, architecture, health, and divination that has garnered a growing presence outside of Asia. It is part of a comprehensive and ancient worldview built around belief in chi (qi) the putative universal energy or life-force that animates all existence, the cosmos, the solar system, the earth, and human bodies. Harmonious living requires building in accord with local chi streams; good health requires replenishment and manipulation of internal chi flow; and a beneficent afterlife is enhanced when buried in conformity with chi directions. Traditional Chinese Medicine is based on the proper manipulation of internal chi by acupuncture, tai-chi and qigong exercise, and herbal dietary supplements. Matthews has produced another tour de force that will repay close study by students, scientists, and all those concerned to understand science, culture, and the science/culture nexus. Harvey Siegel, Philosophy, University of Miami, USA With great erudition and even greater fluidity of style, Matthews introduces us to this now-world-wide belief system. Michael Ruse, Philosophy, Florida State University, USA The book is one of the best research works published on Feng Shui. Wang Youjun, Philosophy, Shanghai Normal University, China The history is fascinating. The analysis makes an important contribution to science literature. James Alcock, Psychology, York University, Canada This book provides an in-depth study of Feng Shui in different periods, considering its philosophical, historical and educational dimensions; especially from a perspective of the ‘demarcation problem’ between science and pseudoscience. Yao Dazhi, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
Mao Zedong launched the "Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution" 30 years ago. This documentary history of the event presents a selection of key primary documents dealing with the Cultural Revolution's massive and bloody assault on China's political and social systems.
This is the first comprehensive study of U.S. policy toward China during the presidency of Lyndon Johnson, a critical phase of the Cold War immediately preceding the dramatic Sino-American rapprochement of the early 1970s. Based on a wide array of recently declassified government documents, this study challenges the popular view that Johnson’s approach to China was marked by stagnation and sterility, exploring the administration's relationship to both the Vietnam War and the Cultural Revolution. By documenting Johnson’s contributions to the decision-making process Lumbers offers a new perspective on both his capacity as a foreign policy leader and his role in the further development of the Cold War. A major contribution to our understanding of both Sino-American relations and the Vietnam War, this book will be of great interest to students of the Cold War, U.S. foreign relations, Asian Politics and the Johnson Presidency.
An epic history of the rise of China and the fall of Hong Kong to authoritarian rule. Essential reading for anyone wishing to deal with China or to understand the world in which we live. The rise of China and the fall of Hong Kong to authoritarian rule are told with unique insight in this new history by Michael Sheridan, drawing on documents from archives in China and the West, interviews with key figures and eyewitness reporting over three decades. The story takes the reader from the earliest days of trade through the Opium Wars of the nineteenth century to the age of globalisation, the handover of Hong Kong from Britain to China, the fight for democracy on the city's streets and the ultimate victory of the Chinese Communist Party. As the West seeks a new China policy, we learn from private papers how Margaret Thatcher anguished over the fate of Hong Kong, sought secret American briefings on how to deal with Beijing and put her trust in a spymaster who was tormented by his own doubts. The Chinese version of history, so often unheard, emerges from memoirs and documents, many of them entirely new to the foreign reader, which reveal China's negotiating tactics. The voices of Hong Kong people eloquent, smart and bold speak compellingly here at every turn. The Gate to China tells how Hong Kong was the gate to China as it reformed its economy and changed the world, emerging to challenge the West with a new order that raised fundamental questions about freedom, identity, and progress. Told through real human stories and a gripping narrative for the general reader, it is also critical reading for all who study, trade or deal with China.
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