Political Violence, Trauma and Power in China

Political Violence, Trauma and Power in China offers a bold rethinking of political violence in China by shifting attention from what violence is to how it becomes meaningful. Rather than treating China as a case to be explained, it uses China as a rich source of insight into how deaths are narrated, remembered, and transformed into symbols of heroism, terror, or tragedy. The book provides a wide-ranging, historically layered account of violence across Chinese history, from imperial assassins and Confucian moral traditions to revolutionary martyrdom, the Cultural Revolution, and contemporary security practices. It shows that violence is not judged by its physical impact alone, but through moral frameworks that define whose deaths matter and why. The book reveals how states and societies assign meaning to violence, justify coercion, and sustain political order. It also traces how these patterns extend beyond China, shaping global security practices. Accessible and conceptually ambitious, this book speaks to readers interested in China, political violence, and the ways modern politics learns to live with death. It invites us to pause before violence is too quickly named, and to ask what those names make possible.