The Suffering and Resistance of the Chinese Urban Youths Forced to the Countryside - (China Studies) by Joshua H Zhang & Philip F Monte (Hardcover)

About the Book

Using a social movement perspective with statistical models, this monograph demonstrates the differences between the Back to the City Movement launched by the Chinese youths－the only successful social movement by the Chinese people since the communist takeover－and the Down to the Countryside Campaign controlled by the Party.

Book Synopsis

Using a social movement perspective with statistical models, this monograph demonstrates the differences between the Back to the City Movement launched by the Chinese youths and the Down to the Countryside Campaign controlled by the Party.

Grounded in the data collected, the monograph explores the emotional impact upon the youths, work, income, mentality, marriage/love, and relationship with local peasants, timelines and methods involved in returning to the city, their final occupations, children's fulfillment, current perceptions of urban life, evaluation of the campaign and their experiences in the countryside. The authors also summarize the lessons learned from the Back to the City Movement, providing references for Chinese future social movements.

About the Author

Joshua H. Zhang (1953- ), Ph.D., earned his doctorate in sociology from Tulane University in 1996 and served as a researcher at the Texas Attorney General's Office from 2000 to 2023. His social science research interests include criminology, social movements, research methodology, and statistics. He has published nine books, including Violence, Periodization and Definition of the Cultural Revolution: A Case of Two Deaths by the Red Guards (Brill, 2018).

Philip F. Monte (1963- ), Ph.D., J.D., holds a doctorate in sociology from Tulane University (1992) and a Juris Doctor from Georgia State University College of Law (1997). His research interests include criminology and criminal justice; the sociology and social psychology of law; the sociology of religion; research methodology and statistics; and political economy/Austrian economics. In the latter area, Dr. Monte is particularly interested in how the catastrophic human suffering of the Cultural Revolution reflects another failure in the history of socialist experimentation in economic and political organization. He has worked as an attorney and as a social science consultant for private businesses and government agencies.