Description
Book SynopsisThis sociological study examines the religious movement Falun Gong within the context of the contentious politics literature. Using the 1989 democracy movement as a comparative case, the author explains Falun Gong's intensive grassroots mobilization, its significance for China, and its implications for understanding religious and political movements.
Trade Review'Junker's incisive analysis of the two largest and most organized citizen movements in China's reform era - Falun Gong and the post-1989 democracy movement - is an invaluable resource for scholars of contentious politics and state-society relations, as well as those seeking to understand the direction of politics within the overseas Chinese diaspora.' Carl Minzner, Fordham University School of Law, New York
'Becoming Activists in Global China is an extraordinarily interesting book. Employing impressive hermeneutic skills, Junker comes up with one eye-popping cultural interpretation after another. These empirical discoveries serve Junker's broader, theoretical ambition, which is to demonstrate that shared meanings - what he terms 'in-group culture' - play a much more consequential role in the formation of social movements than previous sociological thinking has allowed.' Jeffrey C. Alexander, Lillian Chavenson Saden Professor of Sociology, Yale University, Connecticut
'An excellent book, meticulously researched, clearly written, and theoretically path-breaking.' David A. Palmer, author of Qigong Fever: Body, Science and Utopia in China
'The book is methodologically solid, empirically nuanced, and theoretically provocative. Each page is an intellectually rewarding experience.' Rongbin Han, Mobilization
Table of ContentsPart I. Thinking Comparatively: 1. Protest made in global China; 2. Comparing Falun Gong and Minyun as movements; 3. The forgotten importance of Falun Gong; Part II. The Cases: 4. Falun Gong: Qigong fad, new religion, protest movement; 5. Falun Gong's history of 'stepping forward'; 6. Overseas Minyun: democracy through bureaucracy, factionalism, and asylum brokering; Part III. Making Social Movements in Diaspora; 7. Publics, proselytizing, and protest: tactical repertoires compared; 8. Clarifying truth and saving souls; 9. Conclusion.
