China's Urban Revolutionaries: Explorations in the History of Chinese Trotskyism, 1921-1952.

by Gregor Benton Review by: Arif Dirlik Pacific Affairs, Vol. 70, No. 2 (Summer, 1997), pp. 268-269 Published by: Pacific Affairs, University of British Columbia Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2760785 . Accessed: 06/05/2012 10:18
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Pacific Affairs Whatever thecase, his son appearsfrom his lifestyle to be therichest person in thevillagetoday, despitea paltry salary. Regardless ofpossiblecorruption within hisfamily, Wanghimself is perturbed by the overall corruption of the new age, as well as the local and decline in lawand order.His mentality gamblingfever is revealedin his thatthisdecline in public orderis partly statement due to the party's decision to "take the hats off"bad-class villagers: "That meant we could not controlpeople bycallingthemclass enemies" (p. 96). Wang acknowledges thatfewvillagers would like to returnto the collectivesand politicsof the Maoist period, but he nonethelesslooks back nostalgically to a timewhen "thegovernment stressed and made a real attempt agriculture to help agriculture.There were no fakefertilizers and fakeinsecticides"(p. 128). His shares his nostalgia: "Now we have enough to eat, but son, surprisingly, everyonecursesDeng Xiaoping because thereis no security and too much corruption"(p. 127). His Horseis an easy read and studentswill Throwing the Emperor from enjoyit as a "primary" source thatcan be discussedand analyzedin class. TheAustralian NationalUniversity, Australia Canberra,
CHINA'S URBAN REVOLUTIONARIES: JONATHANUNGER

Explorations in the History of Chinese Trotskyism,1921-1952. By GregorBenton. NewJersey: Humanities Press International. 1996. v, 269 pp. (Map.) US$55. 00, cloth,ISBN 0-39103921-0; US$18.50, paper ISBN 0-391-03947-4.
THE AUTHOR OF THIS BOOK describes his undertaking "as a conspectus or digest of research and thinking embodied in various other studies on Chinese Trotskyism published or prepared over the past fifteenyears"(p. 5). The book is a welcome addition to the sparse literature on the subject. The reader who seeks a grasp of Trotskyism in China, however, is likely to be disappointed by Benton's arbitrarydelimitation of the subject, and his often tendentious interpretations. The work consists of two parts: a discussion by the author of problems in the history of Trotskyismin China, and three appendices. Benton's discussion is in the nature of an introduction, a gloss on and an elaboration of issues raised in the appendices, especially Zheng Chaolin's memoir, "Chen Duxiu and the Trotskyists." It ranges in coverage from the origins of Trotskyismamong Chinese Communists in China and Russia, to commentaries on prominent Trotskyists Chen Duxiu and Peng Shuzhi, to the relationship of Trotskyism to questions of democracy in Chinese Communism, to the impact of Trotskyismon the Chinese "world of letters." The author portrays "Chinese Trotskyism"as the expression of "an authentically indigenous tradition of revolutionary democracy" (p. 109), embodied above all in the revolutionarycareer of Chen Duxiu. Accordingly,

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Book Reviews he questions the Trotskyism of those who parted wayswithChen, such as Peng Shuzhi and Liu Renjing,who in the past have been associated more closely withTrotskyism than Chen; as Chen's politicalorientation retained considerableambiguity after1927,when Trotskyism assumed recognizable formin China. Contaminationby Stalin's Moscow seems to be Benton's forthe distinction. major criterion The book is valuable foritscoverageof new scholarship on Trotskyism in China, forclarifying a number of historicaldetails,forits effort to rescue Trotskyism fromitsmalignation bythe Communist party(whichis not entirely new,partly thanksto Benton's own past work) and, above all, for itsappendices (thatalso include an interview withWang Fanxi, and a biographicallist). Trotskyists in China have been erased fromhistory, partly because they were almostliterally erased,as the unitedTrotskyist organizationthatwas foundedin 1931 lastedforonlytwoweeks,beforemostof the Trotskyists foundthemselves injail. Those who remainedon the mainland after1949 suffered further tragedy. Treated as enemies of the regime,they werejailed in 1952 to remaininjail, in the case of Zhang Chaolin, forthe nexttwenty-seven thishistory years. Anyworkthatcontributes to recovering is to be welcomed notjust forhistoriographical for but more importantly politicaland moral reasons. It is too bad, then, that the worksuffers fromserious exaggerations and flawedinterpretations. It is not clear whyBenton insistson the "indigenism" of Chinese Trotskyism, which he qualifies offhandedlyby a parenthetical remark in thattheword"indigenous" maynot mean anything the contemporary world.Theoretical/historical in debates of the thirties which Trotskyists (or Trotskyites) participated,which mightbe crucial to evaluatingsuch a claim,are not part of his discussion (although thereis a brief discussion in Zheng'smemoiroftheissue of "permanent revolution"). The many ofTrotskyism virtues thatBentonextolsare made possiblebycalling into question the authenticity of the majority of those who identified as Trotskyist, themselves and identifying almostexclusively with Trotskyism Chen Duxiu, and thosewho remainedloyalto Chen, such as Zheng Chaolin and WangFanxi. This also ends up appropriating Chen, and all the radical activities in whichChen playeda part (includingthe MayFourthMovement of 1919, and itslingering memoriesin 1989), foran "indigenoustradition of revolutionary democracy," whichis then expressedthroughTrotskyism. Even Lu Xun is broughtinto a Trotskyite revisionof the Chinese worldof letters because he had read,and admired,Trotsky's Literature and Revolution! This book, then,is valuablemostly forproviding materials toward a critical history of Trotskyism in China thatremainsto be written.
Duke University, Durham, NC, U.S.A.
APJF DIRLIK

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