The labors of Sisyphus

the long version

Maria Hsia Chang's The Labors of Sisyphus is a reassessment of the meaning and purpose of the Chinese communist revolution. In it, she discusses the thought of Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping, reform and its dilemmas, regionalism in greater China and autonomous areas, and nationalism. She also examines China's immediate present and uncertain future. If it manages to transform economic growth into development, China - filled with natural resources and a large, capable labor force - has the potential to become a world superpower. It could also collapse under the weight of its own problems: regionalism, a flawed state sector, corruption, and a pronounced decline in state capacity. If China succeeds, an imposing new economic power will enter the global stage, one that is often arbitrary and prone to despotism and xenophobia, unless it is tempered by political reform. Maria Hsia Chang lends structure, meaning, and purpose to the very complex recent political and historical past of Communist China. With greater access to more accurate information, Chang is able to analyze objectively, without political motive or intention, providing readers with a fresh look at the People's Republic. Her pathbreaking work will be of interest to scholars of international economics and politics, sinologists, and historians.