Failure of charisma

Description

Mao's failure to control the Cultural Revolution he unleashed is vividly exemplified by the case of Wuhan, a city plagued by factional violence, paralyzed by workers' strikes, and once officially condemned as a nest of 'counter-revolutionary' rebellion. Many studies of this period recount the pivotal 'Wuhan Incident' of 1967, when a bitter factional power struggle spun beyond to provide an in-depth analysis of Beijing's control. But this is the first book to provide an in-depth analysis of micro-politics in Wuhan from 1966 to 1976, and the first to examine the far-reaching theoretical implications of mass behaviour there. Wang Shaoguang fills a critical gap in the academic literature with his original empirical contribution, which is based on never-before-published archival data, personal interviews with more than 85 former political activists (including well-known factional leaders) and correspondence from his years as a Red Guard in Wuhan. This study demonstrates that Mao's charisma failed because his believers behaved rationally, and pursued, wherever possible (and in his name), their own gains and interests.

Subjects

Other Editions

• Failure of charisma: the Cultural Revolution in WuhanOxford University Press1995-01-01
• Failure of charismaOxford University Press1995-01-01