Author Analyzes the Liberalization of China in New Book from Transaction Publishers

PR Log (Press Release) – Sep 19, 2009 – China is more than a socialist market economy led by ever more reform-minded leaders. It is a country whose people seek liberty on a daily basis. Their success has been phenomenal, despite the fact that China continues to be governed by a single party. China's Long March to Freedom analyzes the distinctions between the people and the government while unveiling the liberalization of this society.

Kate Zhou is an associate professor of political science at the University of Hawaii and a Fellow at the National Endowment for Democracy. “Based on her long personal involvement in grass-roots social organizations in China, Kate Zhou advances a novel view of China’s long-term political evolution says Richard Baum, author of China Watcher: Confessions of a Peking Tom.  Zhou "suggests that routine, everyday resistance on the part of millions of ordinary Chinese citizens to the rigid dictates and policies of the Communist party-state is creating a dramatically expanded sphere of individual freedom and autonomy in China. In her view, political liberalization will emerge through constant, unremitting social pressures from below, rather than episodic, elite-sponsored initiatives from above," says Baum.

This grassroots social revolution has also resulted from the explosion of information available to ordinary people (especially via the Internet) and far-reaching international influences. All have fundamentally altered key elements of the moral and material content of China’s party-state regime and society at large. This social revolution is moving China towards a more liberal society despite its government. The Chinese government reacts, rather than leads, in this transformative process. This book is a landmark—a decade in the making.

To order a copy of China's Long March to Freedom, contact Transaction Publishers at 888-999-6778 or order online at http://www.transactionpub.com.   Editors interested in reviewing this book in a scholarly publication can forward the request along with company information to marketing@transactionpub.com.

WHAT REVIEWERS ARE SAYING
“A fascinating study about the fundamental transformation taking place in the most populous country on earth—China is experiencing a social revolution towards a more liberal society. Only a scholar who is truly bi-culture can provide such insightful account and answer such critical question: how and why do societies liberalize. A welcome addition and a must read for those concerned for people’s real life in China and its future directions.”  —Quansheng Zhao, American University

“Western China-watchers—in government, in the media, in academe, and even in human rights work—tend to use the word ‘China’ when in fact they are speaking only of the policies of the government. This is a mistake, and China’s Long March to Freedom is the best possible corrective for it. Kate Zhou listens to the Chinese people in all their splendid variety, and what she finds makes the official version of China seem a bit superficial.”
—Perry Link, University of California, Riverside