Restorative Justice in China: A Paradox of Powerhouse and Resistance (Palgrave Advances in Criminology and Criminal Justice in Asia)

This monograph provides an empirical and theoretical exploration of restorative justice (RJ) in China, the world’s largest and most diverse RJ system, yet one that remains underexplored in global socio-legal and criminological scholarship.Based on extensive fieldwork-including semi-structured interviews with legal professionals and community mediators, observations of mediation sessions across urban and Indigenous sites, and archival analysis-the book examines four key RJ programs: people’s mediation (community-based dispute resolution), public order mediation (police-led interventions for minor offenses), criminal reconciliation (state-mandated settlements in criminal cases, universally implemented across China), and De Gu mediation (an Indigenous practice among the Yi ethnic minority in Liangshan Prefecture). Aimed at socio-legal scholars, criminologists, political scientists, anthropologists, and policymakers interested in comparative justice systems, authoritarian governance, legal