Abstract:


This talk builds on the argument of the Comprehensive History of the Legal System of the People’s Republic of China that criminal justice and public security during the Cultural Revolution were not, in fact, suspended or in a state of anarchy. The compilers of the Comprehensive History assert that criminal justice during the Cultural Revolution allowed the “basic functioning of society” and maintained “rudimentary order.” A dossier that I found in a Tianjin flea market detailing a case of alleged rape shows that such words as “basic” and “rudimentary” understate the legal avenues available to victims and convicted criminals alike during the Cultural Revolution. In fact, the Cultural Revolution presented new opportunities for citizen justice, police oversight, and appeals.


Biography:


Prof. Jeremy Brown received his PhD from the University of California, San Diego. Since 2014 he has served as Editor of Cambridge Studies in the History of the People’s Republic of China, a book series published by Cambridge University Press.