Ian Johnson

Ian Johnson

Ian Johnson (born July 27, 1962) is a Beijing-based writer and independent scholar. Johnson writes regularly for The New York Review of Books and The New York Times. He also teaches university courses at The Beijing Center for Chinese Studies.

Quotes

• Marxism is not inherently adaptive, instead relying on historical determinism to analyze social development and chart a political path.
  • A Most Adaptable Party, New York Review of Books (July 1, 2021)

• For the Chinese Communist Party, history is legitimacy.
  • A Most Adaptable Party, New York Review of Books (July 1, 2021)

• Xi Jinping has many goals, such as battling corruption, fostering innovation, and projecting power abroad through his Belt and Road Initiative, but controlling history underlies them all.
  • A Most Adaptable Party, New York Review of Books (July 1, 2021)