Tian'Anmen 1989

Tian'anmen 1989, Marie-Claire Bergère. An analysis of the Tian'anmen movement reveals how complex it was, and how far from western patterns. The students wanted not only to improve their own conditions and transform the institutions of the Socialist Republic ; along with many intellectuals, they also wanted to moralize the party and politics. The persistence of traditional values was not the only obstacle to an institutionalization of the opposition, also paralysed by the absence of a civil and of autonomous structures in which the protesters might lean. Factional rivalties, generational fights, personal and political conflicts among leaders played a major role in Tian'anmen.Bergère Marie-Claire. Tian'Anmen 1989. In: Vingtième Siècle, revue d'histoire, n°27, juillet-septembre 1990. Dossier : La rue et la fête du Front Populaire. pp. 3-14