Originally published on May 23, 2022 (Episode 265)
Introduction
Admit it—you’ve always wondered how you would fare in a vicious struggle for power. Maybe that thought came in the middle of an over-long project planning meeting, during a heated argument in a humanities department, or after binge-watching Game of Thrones one too many times. For high-ranking officials in authoritarian regimes, however, such calculations are a matter of yearly survival.
In his book Prestige, Manipulation, and Coercion: Elite Power Struggles in the Soviet Union and China after Stalin and Mao (Yale University Press, 2022), Joseph Torigian analyzes four power struggles in Leninist systems. He argues that party institutions could not prevent conflicts from being shaped by prestige, grudges, maneuvering, and sometimes outright violence. If he’s right, then history’s palace intrigues may offer insights into political futures.
About the Guest
Joseph Torigian is Associate Professor at the School of International Service at American University in Washington and a center associate of the Lieberthal-Rogel Center for Chinese Studies at the University of Michigan.. He specializes in the history of authoritarian politics, with particular focus on the Soviet Union and China.
For Further Investigation
Joseph Torigian, Prestige, Manipulation, and Coercion: Elite Power Struggles in the Soviet Union and China after Stalin and Mao (Yale University Press, 2022)
From Rebel to Ruler — Anthony Saich on the one-hundred-year history of the Chinese Communist Party
Thinking Historically About the Surveillance State—another scholar’s stab at applying history to present power politics
💬 Listen & Discuss
What lessons—if any—can today’s world draw from the factional struggles of Stalin’s heirs or Mao’s comrades? Do we overstate institutions and understate personalities in history? Share your reflections in the comments, and pass this episode along to someone fascinated by the hidden mechanics of power.
