Judith Shapiro

Debates on the future of communism

Part 1 Strengths and weaknesses of communist states today: communisms strength - democracys weakness, Ferene Feher sources of strength and stress, Mihailo Marakovic from paralysis to self-destruction, Carlos Franqui dynamics of militarism in revolutionary Nicaragua, Humberto Belli a dangerous civilization, Edward Kuznetsov crocodiles cannot fly, Alexander Zinoviev. Part 2 Can communist states reform?: the paradigm of the boots, Miklos Haraszti towards post-totalitarianism, Agnes Heller socialist democracy - a question of survival, Franz Loeser Castros Cuba in the Gorbachev era, Carlos Alberto Montaner a future without communism?, Ivan Svitak reforms are possible, Doan Van Toai. Part 3 Unofficial movements: Poland - rebuilding social life, Jakub Karpinski the emerging civil society, Zagorka Golubovic Charter 77 and other independent movements, Jan Kavan dissent in Yugoslavia, Aleksa Djilas cultural resistance in Czechoslovakia, Jan Vladislav the Romanian-Hungarian conflict, Geza Szocs. Part 4 Intellectuals and the communist state: cooperation and conflict, Paul Hollander East bloc intellectuals, Antonin Liehm a view from Bucharest, Mihai Botez the Polish intellectuals anguish, Aleksander Smolar cultural dilemmas in contemporary Bulgaria, Atanas Slavov civilization vs anticivilization - to graduate or not, Dorin Tudoran bitter love - Chinese intellectuals and the state, Judith Shapiro dialectics of disenchantment, Vladimir Tismaneanu.

Chinese Awakenings: Life Stories from the Unofficial China.

* Introduction Chinese Society Breaks Free: Once On The Bow, The Arrow Must Fly * Muddy Legs: The Peasant Migrant * Turning Iron to Gold: The Entrepreneur * Bad Element: The Shanghai Cosmopolite The Revival Of Old Ways: Dying Embers Flare Again * People of the Black Tents: The Tibetan Nomads * Descendants of Kings: The Wang Clan The Losers From Reform: The Bold Feast While The Timid Starve * The Moon Reflecting the Sunlight: The Village Woman * Walking on Fire: The Railway Worker Chinese Challenge The State: The Tree Craves Calm But The Wind Rages On * Touching the Scales of the Dragons Throat: The Dissident * Conclusion: Truth New Born?

Bitter Love: Chinese Intellectuals and the State

Chinese intellectuals are born to a bitter love. They feel a deep responsibility to ‘make a contribution’ to their long-troubled and beloved motherland, knowing clearly that they may well end up devoured or broken, having sacrificed their lives to a futility. This is an ancient tradition: Chinese intellectuals have been throwing themselves into metaphorical rivers ever since Qu Yuan, China’s first poet, drowned himself in the Xiang out of patriotic devotion. The reformers of today are the direct heirs of those who died trying to reform China during the Hundred Days’ Reform of 1898 and the May Fourth movement of 1919.