Merle Goldman is a Professor Emerita of History at Boston University. Her specialization is in Chinese history. She is the author of a number of books on modern Chinese history and culture. Her last two books, China’s Intellectuals: Advise and Dissent (1981) and Sowing the Seeds of Democracy in China (1994), were selected by the New York Times Book Review as among the notable books of their respective years. The latter book was also selected by the American Association of Publishers, Professional and Scholarly Publishing Division, as the best book on government published in 1994. She also has edited five books ranging from a discussion of Chinese culture in the early decades of the twentieth century to Science and Technology in Post-Mao China.

Professor Goldman’s latest research is on “From Comrade to Citizen in the People’s Republic of China: The Struggle for Political Rights in Post-Mao China.” She has published over fifty articles for scholarly journals and also has written for the New York Review of Books, New York Times Book Review, The New Republic, and The Boston Globe. She has received grants from the Guggenheim Foundation, the American Council of Learned Societies, and the Social Science Research Center. She was a member of the United States delegation to the UN Commission on Human Rights (1993-94) and a member of the Presidential Commission on Establishing Radio Free Asia. In 1982, she received the Radcliffe Graduate Award for Distinguished Achievements.

Professor Goldman received a Ph.D. from Harvard University, an MA from Radcliffe College, and a BA from Sarah Lawrence College.

Last Updated: April 3, 2014

Brutality in China

Merle Goldman from New York Review of Books
At the same time that President Bush is speaking up against Saddam Hussein’s human rights atrocities, he is appeasing China’s octogenarian leaders on the very same issue. In order to persuade China to cooperate in the United Nations actions against...

Vengeance in China

Merle Goldman from New York Review of Books
While China’s leaders try to assure the outside world and themselves that “everything is back to normal,” the national problems that existed before the June 4 crackdown have become much worse. China’s students and intellectuals were already...