The Mandate of Heaven
Marx and Mao in Modern China
(Updated Edition & with a New Preface by the Author)
Nigel Harris
Haymarket Books (July, 2015)
Paperback • ISBN: 9781608464654 • US $18.95
ABOUT THE BOOK:
For radicals in Europe and North America, the anti-imperialist-and Chinese-revolutions continued the great task of 1789, 1848, and 1870, the “bourgeois revolution” in Marx’s terms, and the creation of nations that would release the energies and unity of purpose to create new worlds of prosperity and freedom. The nationalist focus led to an emphasis on autarkic development-the nation, it was said, already possessed within its own boundaries all the requirements and resources to match the accomplishments of global civilization.
The overthrow of empire in the 1950s and 1960s-of which the coming to power of the Chinese Communist party in 1949 was a important part-seemed to augur a new era in world history, one in which the majority of the world’s population secured liberation. There was perhaps a sense in which this was true, but the reality for the majority was far removed from this giddy hope. And in the case of the ordinary Chinese, the newly “liberated” regime proved far more brutal and exacting than those that it had replaced (which also attained high standards of brutality and injustice). In China the great famine of 1958-62 was only the most spectacularly cruel and gratuitous product of that new order.
For the former inhabitants of the old empires, national liberation turned out to be not liberation of all, but the creation of a new national ruling class, as often as not exploiting its position at home to make fortunes then smuggled abroad.
PRAISE:
“Explodes many myths spun by development economists…. A fascinating case study of the four most successful developing economies.”
Ian Wrigglesworth The Social Democrat
“…An excellent acquisition for the interested reader….Wholeheartedly endorsed.”
James A. Cox, Bookwatch
“This new work by Nigel Harris is as provocative as its title suggests…. Harris has alerted us to some of the dramatic changes which have taken place in recent years.”
Socialist Worker Review
“Floods of migrants will steal our jobs, drive down wage levels, sponge off our welfare system, compete for public services and provoke rascism, xenophobia and ultimately political instability. Nigel Harris’s book tackles these fears head-on. . . . This book deserves to be read by all…”
Nuala Haughey, Irish Times
“Thought-provoking and refreshingly forthright”
Foreign Affairs
“Nigel Harris is always innovative and provocative…this book keeps up to his high standards.”
Lord Desai, London School of Economics
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Nigel Harris is a British economist specializing in the economics of metropolitan areas. He is Professor Emeritus of the Economics of the City at University College London, and is the author of nineteen books.
RIGHTS INFORMATION:
Please contact subagents for the following languages and territories:
| Language/Territory | Subagent |
|---|---|
| China, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam | Big Apple Agency |
| Dutch | Sebes & Bisseling Literary Agency |
| English outside North America | David Grossman Literary Agency |
| French | Deborah Druba Agency |
| German | Paul & Peter Fritz AG Literatur Agentur |
| Greek | Read n' Right Agency |
| Hebrew | The Deborah Harris Agency |
| Italian | Berla & Griffini Rights Agency |
| Japanese | The English Agency (Japan) Ltd |
| Korean | BC Agency, or Korea Copyright Center |
| Portuguese | RIFF Agency |
| Russia/Baltics/Eastern Europe | Prava I Prevodi |
| Scandinavia | Sebes & Bisseling Literary Agency |
| Spanish in Latin America | MB Agencia Literaria |
| Spanish in Spain | MB Agencia Literaria |
| Turkish | Anatolialit Agency |
For all other languages/territories, please contact Roam Agency.