Lucien Bianco, "Peasants without the Party: Grassroots Movements in Twentieth Century China," (Routledge, 2000)

Exploring one of the most dynamic and contested regions of the world, this series includes works on political, economic, cultural, and social changes in modern and contemporary Asia and the Pacific. The leading specialist on China's twentieth century peasant resistance reexamines, in bold and original ways, the question: Was the Chinese peasantry a revolutionary force? Where most scholarly attention has focused on Communist-led peasant movements, Bianco's story is one of peasant thought and action largely unmediated by modern political parties. This volume pays particular attention to the first half of the twentieth century when peasant-based conflict, ranging from tax and food protests to secret society conflicts, opium struggles, inter-communal conflicts, and tenant protests over rent, was central to nationwide revolutionary processes. East Asian Studies Podcast Chinese History Podcast Twentieth-century China peasant resistance Peasant movements in China Modern Chinese history Chinese peasantry revolutionary force Rural conflicts in China Political and social changes in Asia Opium struggles in Chinese villages Tax protests in rural China Communist-led peasant uprisings Chinese secret societies and conflict Tenant protests in China Peasant thought and resistance China’s revolutionary processes Peasant-based conflicts in China Chinese rural uprisings Social change in China’s countryside Economic struggles in rural China Peasantry’s role in Chinese revolutions Chinese tenant and land disputes Rural Asia historical analysis Cultural shifts in modern China Anti-tax protests in early twentieth-century China