The Communist Judicial System in China, 1927-1976 : : Building on Fear / / Qiang Fang.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Amsterdam University Press Complete eBook-Package 2021
• VerfasserIn: Fang, Qiang,
• Place / Publishing House: Amsterdam : : Amsterdam University Press, , [2021]; ©2021
• Year of Publication: 2021
• Language: English
• Series: China: From Revolution to Reform ; 3
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (336 p.)

Drawing on hundreds of newly released judicial archives and court cases, this book analyzes the communist judicial system in China from its founding period to the death of Mao Zedong. It argues that the communist judicial system was built when the CCP was engaged in a life-or-death struggle with the GMD, meaning that the overriding aim of the judicial system was, from the outset, to safeguard the Party against both internal and external adversaries. This fundamental insecurity and perennial fear of loss of power obsessed the Party throughout the era of Mao and beyond, prompting it to launch numerous political campaigns, which forced communist judicial cadres to choose between upholding basic legal norms and maintaining Party order. In doing all of this, The Communist Judicial System in China, 1927-1976: Building on Fear fills a major lacuna in our understanding of communist-era China.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Table of Contents -- Acknowledgement -- Acronyms -- Introduction: Building on Fear -- 1. Born in Blood, 1927-1935 -- 2. Cornerstone or Aberration? 1935-1949 -- 3. From “Excessive Lenience” to Harshness, 1949-1951 -- 4. A Deliberate Purge, 1952-1953 -- 5. A Golden Age? 1953-May 1957 -- 6. The Great Leap of Law, June 1957-1965 -- 7. Not the Worst Period of Law, 1966-1976 -- Conclusion: From Party’s Fear to People’s Fear -- Bibliography -- Index