Outsourcing Repression

Lynette H. Ong is an associate professor of political science at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto. She is the author of Prosper or Perish: Credit and Fiscal Systems in Rural China (2012). Her work has been published in Comparative Politics, Perspectives on Politics, Foreign Affairs, and other outlets.

• List of FiguresList of TablesPrefaceAcknowledgmentsChapter 1: Bulldozers, Violent Thugs, and Nonviolent Brokers Chapter 2: The Theory: State Power, Repression, and Implications for DevelopmentChapter 3: Outsourcing Violence: Everyday Repression via Thugs-for-HireChapter 4: Case Studies: Thugs-for-Hire, Repression, and MobilizationChapter 5: Networks of State Infrastructural Power: Brokerage, State Penetration, and MobilizationChapter 6: Brokers in Harmonious Demolition: Mass Mobilizers, Mediators, and HuangniuChapter 7: Comparative Context: South Korea and IndiaChapter 8: ConclusionAppendicesAppendix A: Content Analysis of Government RegulationsAppendix B: List of IntervieweesAppendix C: Media-Sourced Event DatasetAppendix D: Additional Tables & Graphs for Chapter 3NotesBibliography

A granular, documented, and persuasive analysis of how authoritarian control is maintained on a quotidian basis in Xi's China. Lest we ever doubt that all authoritarian regimes operate 'outside' even their own hand-tailored, legal order, this fine study closes the case. A discerning examination of the atomization, perversion, and cooptation of what might otherwise be a mobilized, autonomous civil society.