Ralf Ruckus has been studying the social, economic, and political situ­ation in the People’s Republic of China for almost twenty years. He co-founded the collective gongchao.org that investigates and documents social unrest and movements in China with a focus on the struggles of workers, migrants, and women.

• 1. Introduction: Understanding the Left in the People’s Republic  2. Against Broken Promises: Workers Claim Equality and Participation in the Socialist 1950s and 1960s3. For a Better Future: Worker Movements Demand Democratic Reforms in the 1970s and 1980s  4. Defense and Nostalgia: Social Struggles Drive Leftist Resistance in the 1990s and 2000s5. Social Unrest and Organizing: Challenges for the CCP in the Capitalist 2000s and 2010s6. Conclusions: Social Discontent and Left Opposition in Socialism and CapitalismEpilogue

'Ruckus has taken on the task of encapsulating for a western audience the history of the Left in China, where it stands today, and its prospects … comprehensive, detailed, and strikingly insightful'

Ralf Ruckus has been studying the social, economic, and political situ­ation in the People’s Republic of China for almost twenty years. He co-founded the collective gongchao.org that investigates and documents social unrest and movements in China with a focus on the struggles of workers, migrants, and women.

• 1. Introduction: Understanding the Left in the People’s Republic  2. Against Broken Promises: Workers Claim Equality and Participation in the Socialist 1950s and 1960s3. For a Better Future: Worker Movements Demand Democratic Reforms in the 1970s and 1980s  4. Defense and Nostalgia: Social Struggles Drive Leftist Resistance in the 1990s and 2000s5. Social Unrest and Organizing: Challenges for the CCP in the Capitalist 2000s and 2010s6. Conclusions: Social Discontent and Left Opposition in Socialism and CapitalismEpilogue

'Ruckus has taken on the task of encapsulating for a western audience the history of the Left in China, where it stands today, and its prospects … comprehensive, detailed, and strikingly insightful'

Ralf Ruckus has been studying the social, economic, and political situ­ation in the People’s Republic of China for almost twenty years. He co-founded the collective gongchao.org that investigates and documents social unrest and movements in China with a focus on the struggles of workers, migrants, and women.

• 1. Introduction: Understanding the Left in the People’s Republic  2. Against Broken Promises: Workers Claim Equality and Participation in the Socialist 1950s and 1960s3. For a Better Future: Worker Movements Demand Democratic Reforms in the 1970s and 1980s  4. Defense and Nostalgia: Social Struggles Drive Leftist Resistance in the 1990s and 2000s5. Social Unrest and Organizing: Challenges for the CCP in the Capitalist 2000s and 2010s6. Conclusions: Social Discontent and Left Opposition in Socialism and CapitalismEpilogue

'Ruckus has taken on the task of encapsulating for a western audience the history of the Left in China, where it stands today, and its prospects … comprehensive, detailed, and strikingly insightful'