Chen Village

The first two editions of Chen Village presented an enthralling account of a Chinese village in the throes of Maoist revolution followed by dramatic changes in village life and local politics during the Deng Xiaoping period. Now, more than a decade and a half later, the authors have returned to Chen Village, and in three new chapters they explore astonishing developments. The once-backwater village is today a center of China's export industry, where more than 50,000 workers labor in modern factories, ruled by the village government. This new edition of Chen Village illuminates, in microcosm, the recent history of rural China up to the present time.

Anita Chan is a sociologist at the Australian National University. Richard Madsen is Professor of Sociology at the University of California, San Diego. Jonathan Unger is head of the Contemporary China Centre at the Australian National University.