Overview

"Xi Jinping has proven to be one of the most transformative political leaders of the twenty-first century. After a long career that began at the village level, he became General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and China's paramount leader in 2012. Few expected what would come next: a sweeping restructuring of China's political economy and political culture which included anti-corruption campaigns against the Party, and a full recalibration of China's relations with the outside world. In Xi Jinping, Alfred L. Chan offers a comprehensive account of his life and times.Chan discusses Xi's early years as a ""princeling"" and his ordeal during the tumultuous Cultural Revolution. Xi's privileged childhood was shattered during his youth when he was mercilessly tormented as a counter-revolutionary, declared a juvenile delinquent and pauper, ultimately becoming an ordinary peasant. But he clawed his way back up a ladder of success reflecting the changing zeitgeist of the times. He entered politics at age seventeen and accumulated administrative experiences at the county and provincial levels. Chan documents Xi's long path upward through the system, revealing how he built a reputation as an astute leader and a corruption fighter.The second half of the book focuses on the post-2012 period, and Chan pays particular attention to the context surrounding Xi's governance once he consolidated power. He makes clear that Xi's core guiding principle has been Leninism, which prioritizes disciplined party rule above all else. Throughout, Chan applies a range of social scientific theories drawn from comparative politics, international relations theory, public policy, and theories of governance to explain policymaking during an era of turbulent changes. Sweeping in scope and addressing virtually every aspect of Xi's life, this study will be essential for anyone seeking to understand not just Xi himself, but the overlapping global and domestic political contexts that shaped his career and style of rule."

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9780197615225

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Reviews

As a pioneering academic work on Xi Jinping's life and political career, Alfred Chan's book will be one of the definitive guides to the most important political leader in China since Mao. This well-researched book draws on rich data, wide ranging English and Chinese-language literature, and social science analysis to interpret what Xi's reign means for China's rise and its place in the world. * Lynette Ong, University of Toronto * Chan deftly traces Xi Jinping's career from earliest days to the pinnacle of power, seeing his ascension as the fruition of a deliberate grooming process by the Party. Chan argues that, although he often characterized as an absolute leader, Xi's power is in fact constrained by the need to depend on others for expertise, pushback to his ambitious reforms, and the realities of countervailing international forces. * June Dreyer, University of Miami * This book fills a crying need for a comprehensive understanding of the current Chinese leader Xi Jinping and the changing context in which he has emerged as the supreme leader in China. It is the first comprehensive study of Xi's life history, political career, and major issues in the ongoing debate in which Professor Alfred Chan offers new perspectives that challenge many of the conventional views in understanding Chinese politics. * Sujian Guo, Editor-in-Chief,, Journal of Chinese Political Science * Alfred Chan's prodigious tour de force on the career of Xi Jinping relies on extensive empirical evidence and multi-disciplinary analysis to go beyond prevailing interpretations to persuasively characterize China's current powerful leader in more complex terms. Among salient and sometimes conflicting attributes, Xi is depicted as a survivor of early adversity with an iron will to succeed; a strong and decisive leader meeting widespread demands of his time; a staunch Leninist committed to communist party rule; and an impatient change agent pushing ambitious and politically risky programs at home and abroad. Even those disagreeing with Chan's overall assessment will want to examine the evidence and reasoning in this impressive volume. * Robert Sutter, Washington University * Richly researched and actively engaged with scholarly and policy debates, Chan uses the career of Xi Jinping as a window on Chinese political history as well as a lens for understanding Chinese politics today. A valuable contribution to our collective effort to get China right. * Timothy Cheek, University of British Columbia * Through prodigious research and judicious analysis, Alfred Chan has produced a biography of Xi Jinping that is almost encyclopedia-like in its comprehensiveness. Chan's book is a most important and valuable corrective to the hagiographical treatment of Xi in PRC media as well as previous biographies in English. He shows how a combination of personal attributes, the broader context of China's development since the 1980s, and a confluence of contingencies brought Xi Jinping to his current position as arguably the single most powerful and historically significant person of the early twenty-first century. * Michael Szonyi, Harvard University *

"As a pioneering academic work on Xi Jinping's life and political career, Alfred Chan's book will be one of the definitive guides to the most important political leader in China since Mao. This well-researched book draws on rich data, wide ranging English and Chinese-language literature, and social science analysis to interpret what Xi's reign means for China's rise and its place in the world. * Lynette Ong, Department of Political Science, University of Toronto * Chan deftly traces Xi Jinping's career from earliest days to the pinnacle of power, seeing his ascension as the fruition of a deliberate grooming process by the Party. Chan argues that, although he often characterized as an absolute leader, Xi's power is in fact constrained by the need to depend on others for expertise, pushback to his ambitious reforms, and the realities of countervailing international forces. * June Dreyer, Professor of Political Science, University of Miami * This book fills a crying need for a comprehensive understanding of the current Chinese leader Xi Jinping and the changing context in which he has emerged as the supreme leader in China. It is the first comprehensive study of Xi's life history, political career, and major issues in the ongoing debate in which Professor Alfred Chan offers new perspectives that challenge many of the conventional views in understanding Chinese politics. * Sujian Guo, Professor of Political Science, San Francisco State University and Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Chinese Political Science * Alfred Chan's prodigious tour de force on the career of Xi Jinping relies on extensive empirical evidence and multi-disciplinary analysis to go beyond prevailing interpretations to persuasively characterize China's current powerful leader in more complex terms. Among salient and sometimes conflicting attributes, Xi is depicted as a survivor of early adversity with an iron will to succeed; a strong and decisive leader meeting widespread demands of his time; a staunch Leninist committed to communist party rule; and an impatient change agent pushing ambitious and politically risky programs at home and abroad. Even those disagreeing with Chan's overall assessment will want to examine the evidence and reasoning in this impressive volume. * Robert Sutter, Professor, Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University * Richly researched and actively engaged with scholarly and policy debates, Chan uses the career of Xi Jinping as a window on Chinese political history as well as a lens for understanding Chinese politics today. A valuable contribution to our collective effort to ""get China right."" * Timothy Cheek, Professor and Louis Cha Chair in Chinese Research,Institute of Asian Research in the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs and Department of History, University of British Columbia * Through prodigious research and judicious analysis, Alfred Chan has produced a biography of Xi Jinping that is almost encyclopedia-like in its comprehensiveness. Chan's book is a most important and valuable corrective to the hagiographical treatment of Xi in PRC media as well as previous biographies in English. He shows how a combination of personal attributes, the broader context of China's development since the 1980s, and a confluence of contingencies brought Xi Jinping to his current position as arguably the single most powerful and historically significant person of the early twenty-first century. * Michael Szonyi, Director, Fairbank Center, Harvard University * Chan provides a comprehensive analysis of Xi's policymaking and leadership, preventing an oversimplification of issues and encouraging a more nuanced understanding of contemporary China's political and power dynamics...a highly recommended read. * Mandira Bagwandeen, South African Journal Of International Affairs *"

Author Information

Alfred L. Chan is a Professor Emeritus at Huron University College, Western University, and a Research Associate with the Asian Institute at the Munk Centre for Global Affairs and Public Policy, University of Toronto. A political scientist and a China expert, he has taught at Carleton University, McGill University, and Calgary University. He has published in leading international journals on China such as The China Quarterly, The China Journal, Studies on Contemporary China, and Pacific Affairs. He is also the author of Mao's Crusade.

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