This book uses the dramatic occupation of Tiananmen Square as the foundation for rethinking the cultural dimensions of Chinese politics, including coverage of key issues, such as the political dimensions of popular culture and the struggle for control of public discourse in the post-1989 era.

Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom was trained in Chinese and comparative history at Harvard University and Berkeley and is currently associate professor of history at Indiana University. He has published widely on topics ranging from urban theory to patterns of Chinese student protest to the gendered aspects of revolutionary struggles. His most recent books include Human Rights and Revolutions and Chinese Femininities/ Chinese Masculinities . In addition to various academic venues, his essays have appeared in general interest periodicals such as Christian Science Monitor, American Scholar, and World Policy Journal . He writes regularly for Times Literary Supplement, Dissent Magazine, Chronicle of Higher Education; he is also a member of the Board of Directors of Long Bow Films; and recently served a year as the acting editor of American Historical Review . Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom is associate professor of history at Indiana University. Elizabeth J. Perry is professor of political science at the University of California at Berkeley.

General Frameworks: Imagining the Ancien Regime in the Deng Era, Ernest P. Young; Acting Out Democracy - Political Theatre in Modern China, Joseph W. Esherick and Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom. Class, Gender and Identity - 1989 as a Socialist Movement: Casting a "Chinese Democracy" Movement - The Roles of Students, Workers and Entrepreneurs, E.J. Perry; Science, Democracy and the Politics of Identity, Craig C. Calhoun; Gender and the Chinese Student Movement, Lee Feigon. Popular Culture and the Politics of Art: The Birth of the Goddess of Democracy, Tsao Tsing-yuan; Politics and Popular Music in Post-Tiananmen China, Andrew F. Jones. Cultural Dilemmas and Political Roles of the Intelligentsia: Memory and Commemoration - The Chinese Search for a Livable Past, Vera Schwarcz; From Priests to Professionals - Intellectuals and the State Under the CCP, Timothy Cheek; The Role of the Chinese and the US Media, Stephen R. MacKinnon. State Power and Legitimacy: What Happened in Eastern Europe in 1989?, Daniel Chirot; Discos and Dictatorship - The Chinese State in Crisis, Tony Saich. Master Narratives and Key Words Deconstructed: History, Myth and Tales of Tiananmen, Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom; That Holy Word, "Revolution", Llu Xiaobo.