Zed Asian Arguments Launch – Ballot Box China – April 12th, London

Posted: April 10th, 2011 | No Comments »

I’m very happy that a new series of books I’ve been developing for Zed Books in London will launch this week with the publication of Kerry Brown’s study of the recent developments in village democracy (or lack of) in China – Ballot Box China. The idea of Zed Asian Arguments, of which I’m the series editor, is that they are shorter books (around 60,000 words) that raise issues from the region from the bottom up. We’ve had enough top down analyses to last us a lifetime and precious few bottom up analyses. The idea of my series is to look at how major developments, in this case village democracy in China, is perceived and affects local communities. As Kerry had spent a lot of time as an observer of elections across China and talked with participants and candidates I asked him to write the book. We’ve heard enough from academics and journalists about what the government thinks, I thought it was time to try and work out what the would-be electorate thinks.

And so we’re finally going to get to launch the first book in the series – more are coming covering issues as diverse as local environmental activism in China, the realities of urbanisation in China, China’s soft power efforts, what ordinary North Koreans think and the position of Burmese migrant workers in Thailand. I’m afraid I can’t be in London for the launch but hopefully some of you can get along.

You are invited to the launch of

Ballot Box China

By Kerry Brown

‘Chinese Grassroots Democracy and What It Means for China’s Future’

Tuesday April 12^th 2011

5.30 to 6.30pm

Chatham House

10 St James’s Square

London
SW1Y 4LE

RSVP: sshah@chathamhouse.org.uk

Speakers will include author Kerry Brown, head of the Asia Programme, Chatham House.

Event chaired by Jonathan Fenby, head of China research, Trusted Sources.

The speakers will explain how, in the last 20 years, China has undertaken one of the world’s largest experiments in grassroots democracy. Across over half a million villages in China almost one million elections have taken place since 1988, with over three million officials elected. Chinese farmers still account for half of the Chinese population and a quarter of its economic output. With villages remaining restive, what does this mean for the future of the country as a whole – and what clues do these elections give to China’s own possible democratic future?

‘A sober, readable and much-needed corrective to the idea, promoted with great enthusiasm and increasing success by the ruling communist party, that western notions of democracy are alien to China’s political traditions and culture. But Ballot Box China is not starry-eyed either, placing the issue of democracy firmly in the context of China’s own internal debate about political reform.’

Richard McGregor, author of The Party: The Secret Life of China’s Communist Leaders.

‘This remarkably clear-eyed primer examines the state of democracy in China from the ground up, in all its complexity. From pen-portraits of local activists to insiders’ analyses, Ballet Box China offers one of the best explanations of how the world’s newest superpower is governed.’

Louisa Lim, NPR Beijing Correspondent

For more information, go to www.zedbooks.co.uk/ballot_box_china

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