Pitfalls of Popularity: The Radicalization Dynamics in the 1989 Tiananmen Student Movement

Zitian Sun, McGill University

In this article, I investigate the 1989 Tiananmen Student Movement, asking why the movement became radicalized after the regime offered concessions. I argue that radicalization was a temporary measure to sustain the movement’s mobilization, but it created a symbiotic dynamic between radical activists and regime hard-liners, contributing to a tragic demise. When regime soft-liners offered concessions to the students, moderate students were willing to negotiate. The more radical students, however, rejected dialogue and staged dramatic actions that captured media attention, subsequently weakening the movement’s ability to extract concession from the regime. Spectacular but nonviolent tactics of hunger strikes undermined the position of both the moderates and regime soft-liners. The hard-liners exploit this stand-off to marginalize those soft-liners and repress the movement. I show how this dynamic led to violent repressions and consolidations of authoritarian rule.

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 Presented in Session 98. Commemorating Xiaohong Xu: The Long Chinese Revolution in Comparative Perspective