Martin Powers (University of Michigan)

Part of the East Asia by the Book! CEAS Author Talks series, this event features University of Michigan Professor Martin Powers, and his book, "China and England: the Preindustrial Struggle for Justice in Word and Image." Professor Powers examines egalitarian social ideals and institutions that arose in preindustrial China and England, and in the process, uncovers China’s forgotten role in the history of social justice debate and legislation during the eighteenth century. Drawing on a wide range of visual and documentary evidence, the author shows that many prominent individuals in both England and China adopted comparable strategies as a logical response to excesses of privilege and arbitrary power, with educated but non-noble persons taking advantage of print culture, a more literate population, an expanded art market, public spaces and other familiar ‘early modern’ developments to interrogate the system of inherited privilege and promote a more meritocratic society.