Jeff WASSERSTROM (University of California-Irvine)

A century ago, activists with ties to various parts of Asia embraced and then discarded different ideologies and found varying ways to connect with one another, sometimes in exile. What linked them were some shared grievances, such as a dislike with the way their community was being bullied or controlled by people in a distant capital and with limits on their freedom to speak out on issues that concerned them and organize to bring about change. The founders of the Chinese Communist Party, many of whom were attracted by forms of liberal and anarchist thought before embracing Marxism-Leninism, were part of this milieu. Now, in 2021, that organization is in control in Beijing and that city has become a capital that is a source of concern for a very different generation of activists with ties to various parts of Asia, who now often connect via social media messaging rather than exchanging tracts in port cities.