Marketing Dictatorship

Click here to hear Anne-Marie Brady's BBC World Service radio documentary titled "The Message from China" China's government is no longer a Stalinist-Maoist dictatorship, yet it does not seem to be moving significantly closer to democracy as it is understood in Western terms. After a period of self-imposed exclusion, Chinese society is in the process of a massive transformation in the name of economic progress and integration into the world economy. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is seeking to maintain its rule over China indefinitely, creating yet another "new" China. Propaganda and thought work play a key role in this strategy. In this important book, noted China scholar Anne-Marie Brady answers some intriguing questions about China's contemporary propaganda system. Why have propaganda and thought work strengthened their hold in China in recent years? How has the CCP government strengthened its power since 1989 when so many analysts predicted otherwise? How does the CCP maintain its monopoly on political power while dismantling the socialist system? How can the government maintain popular support in China when the uniting force of Marxist-Leninist-Maoist ideology is spent and discredited? What has taken the place of communist ideology? Examining propaganda and thought work in the current period offers readers a unique understanding of how the CCP will address real and perceived threats to stability and its continued hold on power. This innovative book is a must-read for everyone interested in China's growing role in the world community.

Anne-Marie Brady is an authority on Beijing's efforts to attract favorable attention to itself. . . . The central thesis of her path-breaking book is ultimately convincing., Propaganda is one of the most important domains in the Chinese party-state. . . . As Anne-Marie Brady demonstrates in a superb study of this central and hidden part of the Chinese system, the surface diversity of the Chinese media hides the guiding hand of a high-level Party office in Beijing called the Central Propaganda Department, which works its will across the whole spectrum of activities in media, education, entertainment—and also in sports. . . . The Beijing Olympics have never been anything but a conscious part of this strategy—what Brady calls a campaign of mass distraction., A hugely interesting and important book. In a concise 230 pages it explains how since 1989 the Chinese Communist Party has renewed, extended and strengthened its propaganda apparatus., This is a fine study of Chinese domestic and foreign propaganda. . . . The book is well organized. . . . Her research is extensive and up-to-date. The volume should be part of any collection with a focus on mass communications, China studies, or even political science in general. . . . Recommended., The best and most current study on [the Chinese propaganda system], and is a welcome addition to our understanding of the evolving party-state in China. . . . A much-needed assessment of the often 'invisible hand' guiding what Chinese citizens are permitted to know and how they know it.

Anne-Marie Brady is associate professor in the School of Social and Political Science at the University of Canterbury. She is the presenter for the BBC documentary "The Message from China."