Includes bibliographical references (pages [194]-201) and index.
Contents:
Introduction -- The civilian participants -- The normative question -- As a matter of transitional justice -- Responsibility of vulnerable participants -- Methodological issues -- The Cultural Revolution and Its Aftermath -- Introduction -- Seeds of social and political discontent -- Supremacy of the revolutionary ideal -- The need of continuing revolution -- Chairman Mao as an infallible and invincible authority -- Mass participation in the use of violence -- Violence provoked and reinforced -- Persecution and struggle against close acquaintances -- Transition after the Cultural Revolution -- Limitations of the transition -- The Complexity of Moral Responsibility: Multiple dimensions of responsibility ascription -- Different senses of responsibility ascription -- Different understandings of the essence of responsibility ascription -- Different accounts of the condition of responsibility ascription -- Two faces of responsibility ascription -- Distinction between judgment and treatment in responsibility ascription -- Two sides of responsibility ascription -- A more adequate framework of responsibility ascription -- Moral Responsibility of the Sincere Participants in Cultural Revolution: examination of peculiar cultural context as an excusing factor -- Introduction -- Cases of sincere participants -- The claims and arguments of the sincere participants -- How homogenous was the prevailing culture? -- How should we understand culture? -- Authority of the prevailing culture: should we take culture for granted? -- Cultural impediment, vulnerability and responsibility ascription -- Responsibility ascription in spite of vulnerability -- Concluding remarks -- Coercive Environment as an Excusing Factor in Responsibility Ascription: a critical assessment -- Introduction -- Cases of reluctant participants and the claims they made Information Classification: General -- Choice, coercion, and responsibility -- Fair burden, social expectation, and responsibility -- From assertion of right to self-preservation to corruption of character -- From responsibility ascription to responsibility assumption -- Concluding remarks -- The Moral Responsibility of Bystanders in the Cultural Revolution: an examination of the morality of inaction -- Introduction -- Bystanders amid political turmoil -- Bystanders in Cultural Revolution -- Distinction between action and inaction: does inaction matters morally? -- How should we understand inaction in the Cultural Revolution? -- The complexity of inaction and the difficulty of responsibility ascription -- Attribution of responsibility and assumption of responsibility -- Concluding remarks -- Conclusion: The Relationship between Human Vulnerability and Moral Responsibility -- Vulnerable participants and their predicaments -- Moral responsibility of the civilian participants -- The intricate relationship between human vulnerability and moral responsibility.
Summary:
"In the ten years of the Cultural Revolution, political persecutions, violation of rights, deprivation of freedom, violence and brutality were daily occurrences. Especially striking is the huge number of ordinary civilians who were involved in inflicting pain and suffering on their comrades, colleagues, friends, neighbours, and even family members. The large-scale and systematic form of violence and injustice that was witnessed differs from that in countries like Chile under military rule or South Africa during apartheid in that such acts were largely committed by ordinary people instead of officials in uniforms. Mok asks how we should assess the moral responsibility of these wrongdoers, if any, for the harm they did both voluntarily and involuntarily. After the death of Chairman Mao, there was a trial of the Gang of Four, who were condemned as the chief perpetrators of the Cultural Revolution. Besides, tens of millions of officials and cadres who were wrongly accused and unfairly treated were subsequently cleared and reinstated under the new leadership. However, justice has not yet been fully done because no legal or political mechanism has ever been established for the massive number of civilian perpetrators to answer for all sorts of violence inflicted on other civilians, to make peace with their victims, and to make amends. The numerous civilians who participated need to come to terms with the people they wronged in those turbulent years. Justice in general and transitional justice in particular may still be pursued by taking the first steps to clarify and identify the moral burden and responsibility that may legitimately be ascribed to the various types of participant. This book will be of interest to anyone who studies the Cultural Revolution of China, especially those who are concerned with the ethical dimension."-- Provided by publisher.
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