The Cultural Revolution on Trial

The trial of Cultural Revolution leaders, including Mao's widow and her Gang of Four, was the signal event in China's post-Mao transition. In its wake, Chinese socialism emerged from the rubble of the Cultural Revolution to create the China that we know today. This spectacular show trial was a curious example of transitional justice, marking a break from the trauma of the past, a shift to the present era of reform, and a blueprint for building a better future. In this groundbreaking reconstruction of the most famous trial in Chinese history, Alex Cook shows how the event laid the cornerstone for a new model of socialist justice; at the same time, a comparison of official political and legal sources with works of popular literature reveals the conflicted cultural dimensions of this justice. The result, Cook argues, saved Chinese socialism as ruling ideology, but at the cost of its revolutionary soul.

Includes index.

Cover; Half-title; Series information; Title page; Copyright information; Table of contents; List of figures; Acknowledgments; List of abbreviations; List of Glossary of Key Terms; Introduction; The Gang of Four Trial as History; The Core Dilemma; China's Cultural Revolution; Socialist Legality and Transitional Justice; Socialist Humanity and the Critique of Instrumentalism; 1 Indictment; Settling Accounts: Legal Accountability; "Smashing" the Gang of Four; Preparation of the Legal Context; Preparation of the Indictment Text; Indictment as Historical Account.

Indictment by the People, Courtroom of the PeopleJustice as Commensuration: A Requital Narrative; 2 Monsters; Literary Indictment; Advocate for the People; The Rule of Monsters; Author as Social(ist) Scientist; Wondrous Exchange: The Perversion of Justice; The Courtroom of History: A Space for Intervention; The Violence of Interpretation; 3 Testimony; Inquiry; Defense Strategies; Confession; Contestation; Silence; Transcendence: Beyond Law and Heaven; Settling Accounts: Justice as Containment; Ah, History -- Merciless Judge; 4 Emotions; Personal and Literary Testimony.

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