{"id":34012,"date":"2023-01-03T23:00:11","date_gmt":"2023-01-03T23:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?p=34012"},"modified":"2023-01-03T23:04:57","modified_gmt":"2023-01-03T23:04:57","slug":"joseph-torigian-prestige-manipulation-and-coercion-elite-power-struggles-in-the-soviet-union-and-china-after-stalin-and-mao","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?p=34012","title":{"rendered":"Joseph Torigian, &#8220;Prestige, Manipulation, and Coercion: Elite Power Struggles in the Soviet Union and China after Stalin and Mao&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>How succession in authoritarian regimes was less a competition of visions for the future and more a settling of scores<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>The political successions in the Soviet Union and China after Stalin and Mao, respectively, are often explained as triumphs of inner\u2011party democracy, leading to a victory of \u201creformers\u201d over \u201cconservatives\u201d or \u201cradicals.\u201d In traditional thinking, Leninist institutions provide competitors a mechanism for debating policy and making promises, stipulate rules for leadership selection, and prevent the military and secret police from playing a coercive role. Here, Joseph Torigian argues that the post-cult of personality power struggles in history\u2019s two greatest Leninist regimes were instead shaped by the politics of personal prestige, historical antagonisms, backhanded political maneuvering, and violence. Mining newly discovered material from Russia and China, Torigian challenges the established historiography and suggests a new way of thinking about the nature of power in authoritarian regimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Joseph Torigian<\/strong> is an assistant professor at the School of International Service at American University and a Global Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center\u2019s History and Public Policy Program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Praise<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIn <em>Prestige, Manipulation, and Coercion<\/em>, Joseph Torigian of American University is less interested in coalitions than the mechanics of transfers. Challenging conventional analyses of how authoritarian leaders are chosen, he argues that factors such as ideology and patronage matter less than brass-knuckle tactics.\u201d\u2014Ian Johnson, <em>New York Review of Books<\/em><br><br>\u201cDo read Torigian\u2019s <em>Prestige, Manipulation, and Coercion<\/em>. . . . It\u2019s great.\u201d\u2014Stuart Lau, <em>Politico<\/em><br><br>\u201c<em>Prestige, Manipulation, and Coercion<\/em> . . . is . . . useful for those interested in understanding how actors in Leninist systems fight for power.\u201d\u2014Martin Laflamme, <em>Los Angeles Review of Books<\/em><br><br>\u201c[Torigian\u2019s] ambitious first book re-examines critical junctures in Soviet and Chinese history, putting up a revisionist case against the consensus view of Deng Xiaoping and Nikita Khrushchev as reformers.\u201d\u2014John Delury, <em>Global Asia<\/em><br><br>\u201c[S]pecialists will find much to ponder in this careful, detailed examination of a critical question in the functioning of authoritarian regimes.\u201d\u2014Mary Elise Sarotte, <em>Engelsberg Ideas<\/em><br><br>\u201c[A] detailed account of the internal battles at pivotal historical moments in two Leninist systems. . . . [Torigian\u2019s] reconstructions of the politics behind ideological debates are impressive.\u201d\u2014Andrew Batson\u2019s Blog<br><br>\u201cJoseph Torigian\u2019s stellar research and personal interviews have produced a brilliant, meticulous study. It fundamentally undermines what political scientists have presumed to be the way Chinese Communist and Soviet politics operate.\u201d\u2014Dorothy J. Solinger, University of California, Irvine<br><br>\u201cJoseph Torigian combines history and political science in a remarkably acute and innovative study of leadership politics in the Soviet Union and China. It will help us understand authoritarian regimes today.\u201d\u2014David Holloway, Stanford University<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-wordpress wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-yale-university-press\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"6lotxrpZTw\"><a href=\"https:\/\/yalebooks.yale.edu\/\">Home<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);\" title=\"&#8220;Home&#8221; &#8212; Yale University Press\" src=\"https:\/\/yalebooks.yale.edu\/embed\/#?secret=LutthDKXPv#?secret=6lotxrpZTw\" data-secret=\"6lotxrpZTw\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":34013,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[8,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-knjige","category-novosti"],"acf":{"facebook_opis":""},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Elite.jpg?fit=300%2C456&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":52742,"url":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?p=52742","url_meta":{"origin":34012,"position":0},"title":"The Violent 1950s: Towards a New History of the Global \u201cPostwar\u201d Decade, Washington, DC, 25th\u201326th February 2027 (Deadline: 12th June 2026)","author":"Filip \u0160imunjak","date":"4. svibnja 2026.","format":false,"excerpt":"This international conference aims to reassess the so-called postwar years. Reconceptualizing the 1950s as a deeply violent decade, marked not by the absence of conflict, but rather by its reconfiguration on all levels, the conference explores the manifold societal, political, and everyday manifestations of violence in the twilight phase of\u2026","rel":"","context":"U &quot;Novosti&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Novosti","link":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/hsozkult.png?fit=1006%2C241&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/hsozkult.png?fit=1006%2C241&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/hsozkult.png?fit=1006%2C241&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/hsozkult.png?fit=1006%2C241&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":55072,"url":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?p=55072","url_meta":{"origin":34012,"position":1},"title":"Victoria Khiterer, \u201eBitter War of Memory: The Babyn Yar Massacre, Aftermath, and Commemoration\u201c","author":"Branimir Jankovi\u0107","date":"25. kolovoza 2026.","format":false,"excerpt":"Bitter War of Memory: The Babyn Yar Massacre, Aftermath, and Commemoration\u00a0discusses the Holocaust in Kyiv and the efforts to memorialize the Babyn Yar massacre. Babyn Yar is one of the largest Holocaust sites in the Soviet Union and modern Ukraine, where the Nazis and their collaborators killed virtually all the\u2026","rel":"","context":"U &quot;Knjige&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Knjige","link":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?cat=8"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Bitter-War-of-Memory-2.jpg?fit=596%2C466&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Bitter-War-of-Memory-2.jpg?fit=596%2C466&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Bitter-War-of-Memory-2.jpg?fit=596%2C466&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":55062,"url":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?p=55062","url_meta":{"origin":34012,"position":2},"title":"CfP: The Making of Solidarity: A\u00a0Conference on Eastern and Central European Dissidents, 1945-1991","author":"Branimir Jankovi\u0107","date":"24. kolovoza 2026.","format":false,"excerpt":"This open call invites proposals for an interdisciplinary conference on Eastern and Central European dissidence, solidarity, and anti-imperial thought. 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November 2026 A close reading of Ivan Dziuba\u2019s classic\u00a01965 essay Internationalism or Russification? offers a\u00a0useful lens through which\u2026","rel":"","context":"U &quot;Novosti&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Novosti","link":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/The-Making-of-Solidarity.png?fit=883%2C662&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/The-Making-of-Solidarity.png?fit=883%2C662&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/The-Making-of-Solidarity.png?fit=883%2C662&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/The-Making-of-Solidarity.png?fit=883%2C662&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":54487,"url":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?p=54487","url_meta":{"origin":34012,"position":3},"title":"Workshop &#8220;Experts in Transition: Political Epistemologies of 1980s\u20132000s East Central Europe&#8221;","author":"Branimir Jankovi\u0107","date":"7. srpnja 2026.","format":false,"excerpt":"On July 9\u201310, 2026, the Institute of Contemporary History in Ljubljana will host the international workshop: Experts in Transition: Political Epistemologies of 1980s\u20132000s East Central Europe The workshop is open to the public and to interested scholars. If you are planning to participate, please write to Adela H\u00eencu \u2013 adela.hincu@inz.si\u2026","rel":"","context":"U &quot;Novosti&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Novosti","link":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/01-INZ-logo-21-RGB-SLO_RGB.png?fit=685%2C291&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/01-INZ-logo-21-RGB-SLO_RGB.png?fit=685%2C291&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/01-INZ-logo-21-RGB-SLO_RGB.png?fit=685%2C291&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":52516,"url":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?p=52516","url_meta":{"origin":34012,"position":4},"title":"Marko Grde\u0161i\u0107, Mislav \u017ditko, \u201eSocialist Economics in Yugoslavia: A Critical History\u201c","author":"Branimir Jankovi\u0107","date":"17. travnja 2026.","format":false,"excerpt":"This book presents a critical history of Yugoslav socialist economics, from its inception in the late 1940s to its dissolution in the late 1980s. 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