Hong Kong’s New Normal
Last week’s imprisonment of three pro-democracy student leaders acutely illustrates the tightening space for civil society in the territory.
Winter 2024
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Liu Xiaobo Is Gone, But Resistance Continues
As the world mourns the death of Liu Xiaobo, we mustn’t forget that dissent in authoritarian states, not only in China, occurs in the realm of the ordinary.
Censorship and the Politics of Art in Hong Kong
As Hong Kong marks twenty years since its return to Chinese sovereignty, Beijing’s tightening grip on the territory is calling into question its future as an international arts hub.
China and the United States: Reversing Roles on Climate Change?
While Trump promises to axe the EPA and bring back coal, China’s leaders are heralding a new “ecological civilization.” But are the two countries really reversing roles on the environment?
The Chairman of Everything
Under Xi Jinping’s rule, conditions for civil society are worse in China today than they have been for more than two decades. Yet in spite of ratcheted up forms of control, protests continue.
An Umbrella Closes in Hong Kong
Ever since the Umbrella Movement of 2014, pressure from China on Hong Kong has intensified. Now more than ever, activists must join together to defend basic freedoms against the tide of fear and divisiveness creeping over the border.
New World Disorder 
Systems of government are scraping against each other like continents grinding at a fault line. The noise they make announces a new world disordered. These clashes are not just because of Vladimir Putin or the new hard-line Chinese leadership of …
The Left That Never Was
In 1998, many North American and European intellectuals hailed the emergence of a new Latin American left when Hugo Chávez ascended to the presidency of Venezuela. When Evo Morales became president of Bolivia in 2006, and Rafael Correa won the …
China’s Feminist Five
China’s younger generation of feminists pose a unique threat to the Communist Party. By celebrating single, queer, and often child-free women, they are challenging government edicts that marriage and families are the foundation of the country’s political stability.
Big Philanthropy Takes the Bus
Since the early 2000s, when the Shell-backed EMBARQ began promoting bus rapid transit (BRT), a wide range of philanthropists and transit advocates have seized on the “technical fix,” which promises to solve a recognized problem without challenging the power relationships that created it.
Remembering and Forgetting Repression in China
China’s leaders remain determined to control the flow of information about sensitive subjects like the Tiananmen Square massacre of June 4, 1989. But that doesn’t mean simply pretending they didn’t happen.
China and Russia Revisited
By the early 1990s, the contrasts between the world’s two former Communist giants seemed to far outweigh the similarities. Twenty years later, the countries have a surprising amount in common again.
The Renminbi’s Rollercoaster
As China’s economic prospects darken, headlines worldwide accuse China’s leaders of threatening global capitalism. Once upon a time, that was precisely the point.
Why Fighting Air Pollution and Stopping Climate Change Aren’t the Same Thing
Unless it’s done right, fighting air pollution in cities like Beijing and Delhi won’t necessarily reduce carbon emissions.
Belabored Podcast #88: Dismantling Two-Tier
Recent contract negotiations at Fiat Chrysler are signaling an end to the infamous two-tier wage system. We speak with Chrysler worker Alex Wassell and Professor of Industrial Relations at Clark University Gary Chaison about the new deal.
