Policing Chinese Politics: A History
2006 ◽
Vol 39
(2)
◽
pp. 454-456
◽
Keyword(s):
Policing Chinese Politics: A History, Michael Dutton, Durham: Duke University Press, pp. xiii, 411.This book is an empirically rich illumination of Carl Schmitt's notion that “the political” rests ultimately on a friend/enemy distinction. It depicts “the birth, life and death cycle” of this ever-shifting dynamic in modern Chinese history (303–4), through the lens of the coupling of the political with policing. The result is a tale that must enhance the reputation of this already-respected political scientist.