Yang Su is Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Irvine and a scholar of social movements, revolution, and political violence. His book Collective Killings in Rural China during the Cultural Revolution (2011) was a winner of the Barrington Moore Book Award and an Honourable Mention of the Charles Tilly Book Award of the American Sociological Association.
'A stunning, meticulously researched, brilliant analysis. Yang Su's book forces us to re-evaluate everything we thought we knew about the Tiananmen Square movement and its violent repression. The analysis also reminds us of how much we miss when we lack access to information about elite decision making processes and how those processes may shape trajectories of social movements. While activists think strategically about how elite opponents' vulnerabilities open up opportunities for action, their elite opponents may be thinking strategically about how they can use movements to position themselves in elite power struggles. Elegantly written and perfectly suited for undergraduate or graduate courses related to social movements, revolution, politics, and power.' Rory McVeigh, Notre Dame University