The Road to Tiananmen Square

The story of Tiananmen Square did not begin - or end - in 1989. Protests erupted across the country following a decade of political and economic crisis and, although the movement was ultimately suppressed, workers and students redrew the boundaries of repression and resistance in contemporary China. To unearth the roots of the 1989 revolt, Charlie Hore examines the historical foundations of Chinese state capitalism. In particular, he explores the central role of workers, students, and mass movements in the creation of the Chinese Communist Party, the 1925-27 and 1949 revolutions, and the tumultuous reigns of Mao and Deng. Hore builds on this history in the new introduction to this edition, which charts the evolution of Chinese class relations in the wake of Tiananmen. Despite state attempts to repress and co-opt dissent, resistance to exploitation and oppression continues across China, as well as in Tibet, Xinjiang, and Hong Kong. In analysing these struggles, Hore highlights the relationship between China’s internal contradictions and its escalating interimperialist rivalry with the US. The new edition of this book provides a comprehensive overview of Chinese class relations from a revolutionary socialist perspective and shows how the 1989 revolt continues to cast a long shadow over China today.