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Dictatorship by Degrees

Xi Jinping in China

Steven P Feldman author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Lexington Books

Published:15th Feb '21

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

Dictatorship by Degrees cover

Dictatorship by Degrees: Xi Jinping in China traces the totalitarian elements that linger in China’s governing policies and practices, such as extra-legal Anti-Corruption Campaign, great concentration of power in one man, increasing intolerance, increasing propaganda, increasing indoctrination, increasing self-criticism inside the Party, expansion of Party cells across society, increasing censorship, cult of personality, and mass incarceration in Xinjiang. Steven P. Feldman develops a concept of pre-totalitarianism to explore these developments through extensive field data, including interviews with business executives, professors, lawyers, and non-profit executives, and observations of daily life. Feldman argues that Chinese political culture, based on the core principle of small group loyalties is inherently unstable, resulting in an ongoing tendency for leaders to concentrate power to survive and accomplish their goals. Under communist dictatorial political organization, totalitarian domination is always a temptation and risk.

Drawing on classic models of totalitarianism and fieldwork, Steven P. Feldman re-interprets political trends under Xi Jinping, arguing that Xi has propelled China toward a return to the radicalism of the Cultural Revolution. Professor Feldman’s analysis provides a highly provocative, and no doubt controversial, reading of the evolution of contemporary Chinese politics and society.

-- Andrew Wedeman, Georgia State Univer

ISBN: 9781793616678

Dimensions: 231mm x 162mm x 30mm

Weight: 676g

328 pages