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Liu Xiaobo Reading Guide
1. How does Liu discredit the notion that income disparity is the reason for today’s resistance movements in China? What does he instead point to as the source of the growing number of large-scale resistance movements?
2. What are the “two logics” of China’s reforms?
3. What is inherently contradictory about the first logic? a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
4. How does the second logic make the first logic unable to overcome its contradictions?
5. The biggest schism is found in the divide between _______________ and _________________
6. While it appears to superficially be reform from above (Deng Xiaoping model; Jiang-Zhu model; Hu-Wen system), Liu argues that it is actually being pushed from below. What is his reasoning for this?
7. “The apathy and the terror of the masses in face of the unfairness provoked...must not be regarded as stability, but rather as the accumulation of possible causes of disorder”(125). Explain what he means by this quotation.
8. Where can the roots for today’s awareness be found? What is the paramount importance of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protest?
9. What are the major concerns of the grassroots organizations? Do they seem to have any similar thread between them?
10. What are the present manifestations of the Civil Rights movement in China? a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
11. While the system doesn’t allow for countrywide resistance organizations to form, Liu argues that there is still real popular resistance. Explain his views.
12. Liu lists five conditions that regimes must meet if they hope to maintain authoritarian rule in the face of a loss of political legitimacy. How does China measure up to these conditions? What does the Chinese regime rely on, according to Liu?
1. How does Liu discredit the notion that income disparity is the reason for today’s resistance movements in China? What does he instead point to as the source of the growing number of large-scale resistance movements?
2. What are the “two logics” of China’s reforms?
3. What is inherently contradictory about the first logic? a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
4. How does the second logic make the first logic unable to overcome its contradictions?
5. The biggest schism is found in the divide between _______________ and _________________
6. While it appears to superficially be reform from above (Deng Xiaoping model; Jiang-Zhu model; Hu-Wen system), Liu argues that it is actually being pushed from below. What is his reasoning for this?
7. “The apathy and the terror of the masses in face of the unfairness provoked...must not be regarded as stability, but rather as the accumulation of possible causes of disorder”(125). Explain what he means by this quotation.
8. Where can the roots for today’s awareness be found? What is the paramount importance of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protest?
9. What are the major concerns of the grassroots organizations? Do they seem to have any similar thread between them?
10. What are the present manifestations of the Civil Rights movement in China? a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
11. While the system doesn’t allow for countrywide resistance organizations to form, Liu argues that there is still real popular resistance. Explain his views.
12. Liu lists five conditions that regimes must meet if they hope to maintain authoritarian rule in the face of a loss of political legitimacy. How does China measure up to these conditions? What does the Chinese regime rely on, according to Liu?