“According to this valuable empirical study of the workings of criminal justice in China, the current model of governance excessivelyrelies on social control to suppress conflicts and facilitate forced cooperation. But it is significantly inadequate at resolving conflicts and achieving willing collaboration. Based on interviews with practitioners in two settings in China, this book examines how much progress has been made by recent reforms of what they call ‘community measures’.” (David Nelken, Professor of Comparative & Transnational Law in Context, Kings College London, UK)

“Chen provides a frank, robust, and critical analysis of the development of community sanctions and measures in China, and what their development tells us about the relationship between criminal punishment and social control more generally. I can see the book being of equal benefit to a Chinese or Western scholar, and some of its most profound insights cut across national and continental boundaries. Chen's argument is a reminder of Foucault's maxim, that power is dynamic, relational, and constituted from below, and her account of Chinese non-custodial governance reminds us that governmentality does not just exist in the minds of governing élites. Her empirical account of the Chinese system's implementation is politically, socially, and culturally astute, and rich in qualitative detail. I found it an informative, fascinating, and accessible account of policy transfer, penal development, and the challenges of effective, fair, and humane social control in a modern global context.” (David Hayes, Lecturer in Law at the University of Sheffield, UK)