Marc Blecher

On February 25, Routledge published Professor of Politics and of East Asian Studies Marc Blecher’s two newest books: Class and the Communist Party of China, 1921-1978; and Class and the Communist Party of China, 1978-2021.

Blecher coauthored the books with colleagues from Harvard, Sciences Po, the University of Sydney, and Xi’an Jiaotong Liwupu University (in Suzhou, China). To mark the Chinese Communist Party’s 100th anniversary, the scholars put together this project of research, writing, and conferences on its century-long encounter with the question of class. 

On November 30, James Monroe Professor of Politics and of East Asian Studies Marc Blecher addressed the Chinese Studies Association of Australia 17th Biennial Conference on “Changing China: Then and Now 變遷中國：過去與現在.” He presented three chapters from his two forthcoming books Class and the Communist Party of China, 1921–1978 and Class and the Communist Party of China, 1978-2021: Reform and Market Socialism.

Marc Blecher, James Monroe Professor of Politics and of East Asian Studies, published “The Political Economy of Working Class Re-formation” in Lowell Dittmer, ed., China's Political Economy in the Xi Jinping Epoch: Global and Domestic Dimensions, World Scientific, 2021. 

James Monroe Professor of Politics and Professor of East Asian Studies Marc Blecher’s new book Politics as a Science: A Prolegomenon, coauthored with European University Institute Emeritus Professor Philippe Schmitter, was recently published by Routledge. It provides an overview of the core, eternal, universal issues of political science—or, as we argue it should be known, “politology.” It argues that politics is the most fundamental social activity because it involves the peaceful resolution of conflict without which all others would be impossible. The book includes chapters on politics’ (and politology’s) subject matter, foundations (concepts, agents, cleavages, motives, processes, mechanisms, temporalities, units and régimes), consequences (order, production and distribution, recognition and respect, externalities, and legitimacy), the discipline, research design, and its purpose and promise. It is available Open Access to make it affordable for students, scholars and citizens/subjects the world over. Portuguese and Spanish translations are in process, with more foreign language editions intended.

Professor of Politics and East Asian Studies Marc Blecher, along with co-author Hengxuan Wu ’17, published the article "Workers' Politics in China."

Blecher also published “Working Class Re-formation and De-Formation in the People’s Republic of China” in the Handbook on Class and Social Stratification in China, edited by Yingjie Guo. This article compares the development of the Chinese working class in the three decades of Maoist state socialism with that in under the structural reforms that began in 1978. It tries to solve two major puzzles: Why, despite its much improved material life in the Maoist era compared with the despotic conditions of earlier decades, did the working class turn profoundly radical? And why, when the structural reforms knocked the working class off its very privileged Maoist-era perch, has it responded in far less radical ways?

Marc Blecher, professor of politics and East Asian studies, and Daniel Zipp '13, published their article entitled “Migrants and Mobilization: Sectoral Patterns in China, 2010-2013" in the Global Labour Journal (January, 2015). The article analyzes the differences in social protest among migrant workers in China’s apparel, automobile, construction, and electronics industries.

The article is based on research originally done for Zipp's honors thesis, which the pair adapted for a paper they presented at an international conference sponsored by several German and Chinese universities in Nanchang, China, in March 2014.

Professor of Politics and East Asian Studies Marc Blecher attended the Conference on Governance, Adaptability and System Stability under Contemporary One-Party Rule: Comparative Perspectives at Nanchang University, in Nanchang China from March 27 to 29. He presented a paper jointly written with Daniel Zipp ’13, titled “Migrants and Mobilization: Sectoral Patterns in China, 2010-2013.”

Blecher will present a new version of the this paper as the annual keynote lecture, entitled “Migrants and Mobilization: Labor Politics and Political Stability in China”, at the University of Glasgow Confucius Institute, Glasgow, Scotland, on May 12.