Reddit reviews The Politics of Compassion: The Sichuan Earthquake and Civic Engagement in China

POLITICS:

• • For something a bit more specific, to get a feel for what Chinese politics can look like in all it's specificity, I'd recommend The Politics of Compassion by Bin Xu. It's fascinating look at one of the worst natural disasters so far experienced this century; the Sichuan earthquake of 2008. One of China's poorest provinces, it was the least prepared to deal with the kind of disaster which befell it. Over 90,000 people died. In it's wake, a massive, national movement to assist the survivors swept into the province alongside state officials. Different groups and peoples from across the country worked hand in hand. It was not just China, but humanity at it's best. Soon, however, uncomfortable questions started to get posed. How could so many buildings simply collapse? Why was the initial response so fumbling? As the issue of corruption started to rear it's head, and civic activism started to appear like civic opposition (and under the conditions of a massive economic crisis, no less), the CCP moved to quash the political reverberations. Xu's account is told with great humanity and an even hand, and is half sociological analysis, half narrative.
  
  
• • I know this is getting pretty damn long, so the the final book I'll recommend is A Death in the Lucky Holiday Hotel by Pin Ho. If you want to read one book about elite Chinese politics, read this one. Basically, it's a look at the rise, and fall, of Bo Xilai. Bo was a handsome princeling in the style of JFK, the son of Revolutionary hero, former mayor of a hardscrabble city in that northern Rust Belt I'd mentioned. He then went on to become Secretary of Chonqing province - a sprawling megapolis in Southwest China which had seen exceptional economic growth. Chonqing was the poster child for the growth story of the 2000s - once irrelevant, then home to a massive complex of American auto manufacturers, which shocked the city's economy into life - Bo's new turf was promising for an ambitious politician. Bo Xilai himself was a neo-Maoist, championed by the Chinese New Left, who gained national prominence by using the funds from the '08 stimulus for systemic reforms (the so-called "Chonqing Model") and a bare-knuckles campaign against the powerful Triads who effectively ran large swathes of the city (not to mention the web of corruption around them). He was one of the 7 on the Politburo Standing Committee, and had a national base of support cultivated via his natural charisma and savvy use of the internet. But then it all came crashing down. In a byzantine factional struggle between Bo and Xi Jinping, a scandal broke which would end Bo's political career; it involved illegal capital flight, the murder of a British business man, and the vagaries of the Chinese court system. From the perspective of today, it appears as the first shot in Xi's ongoing anti-corruption drive - which is spilling over into global financial markets today.
  
  Seems like enough rant for today lmao. Hope that helps