S8 Ep146: 5/8 Princelings, Purges, and the Politics of Red Nostalgia — Tanya Branigan — Princelings Bo Xilai and Xi Jinping, both children of senior Communist leadership, were themselves CR victims, experiencing persecution and hardship. Bo Xilai, known for his con

5/8 Princelings, Purges, and the Politics of Red Nostalgia — Tanya Branigan — Princelings Bo Xilai and Xi Jinping, both children of senior Communist leadership, were themselves CR victims, experiencing persecution and hardship. Bo Xilai, known for his conspicuous personal style, strategically exploited CR nostalgia by promoting "red songs" celebrating the revolutionary era. Xi Jinping, though more rhetorically restrained, similarly adopted ideological and sentimental appeals to revolutionary memory. This return to Maoist mythology attracts grassroots constituencies seeking transcendent meaning, ideological purity, and moral certainty amid contemporary economic disruption and pervasive institutional corruption.
1967