The Cultural Revolution – News, Research and Analysis – The Conversation

Xi Jinping looks on as former Chinese president Hu Jintao is escorted from the closing ceremony of the 20th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party. EPA-EFE/Mark R Cristino

October 24, 2022

China: echoes of authoritarian past as Xi Jinping cements his place at the heart of a Communist Party now entirely built around him

Konstantinos Tsimonis, King's College London

Xi is now the most powerful Chinese leader since Mao Zedong.

September 20, 2021

China: don’t mistake Xi Jinping’s crackdowns for a second Cultural Revolution

Kerry Brown, King's College London

Observers have been comparing Xi Jinping to Mao Zedong. But the country was very different in Mao’s day.

The Chinese government has promoted a revival of Confucianism, along with traditional religious practices, as part of its nationalist agenda. AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein

August 6, 2021

There’s a religious revival going on in China – under the constant watch of the Communist Party

Mario Poceski, University of Florida

President Xi Jinping’s nationalist agenda includes supporting traditional Chinese religious beliefs and practices – as long as their leaders support the Chinese Communist Party.

July 9, 2021

‘To get rich is glorious’: how Deng Xiaoping set China on a path to rule the world

Tony Walker, La Trobe University

China’s staggering growth over the past 40 years is due to the force of personality and risk-taking of a man who stood barely 1.5m tall.

Origins story: the memorial of the first national congress of the CPC in Shanghai, China. EPA-EFE/Alex Plavevski

July 1, 2021

China’s Communist Party at 100: revolution forever

Andrea Janku, SOAS, University of London

As it celebrates it’s 100th birthday, the Chinese ruling party’s latest programme of education aims to harness the power of youth in its own interests.

Commuters on the Shanghai Metro all on their smartphones in March, 2019. Shutterstock/HengLim

December 17, 2019

Hundreds of Chinese citizens told me what they thought about the controversial social credit system

Xinyuan Wang, UCL

China’s social credit system has been described as a ‘dystopian nightmare straight out of Black Mirror’ but many citizens think it will help fight fraud and bring about a better society.

Chinese President Xi Jinping claps while addressing the media in October 2017 as he introduces new members of the Politburo Standing Committee at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

February 27, 2018

Xi Jinping’s chilling grab for absolute power in China

Charles Burton, Brock University

Any naive hopes for a peaceful evolution to democracy in China are shattered against the reality that it’s now a one-man dictatorship. What does it mean for the West?

The Red Detachment of Women was one of just eight model theatrical pieces approved for performance during the Cultural Revolution. Mark Gambino

February 16, 2017

The Red Detachment of Women marches forward – but to where?

Antonia Finnane, The University of Melbourne

The staging in Melbourne of this classic of the Cultural Revolution has attracted controversy. And amid Bermuda shorts and weapons galore, this political ballet has contemporary resonances.

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