In Authoritarian Containment, Marie-Eve Reny examines why local public security bureaus tolerate unregistered Protestant churches in urban China--an officially atheist country where religious practice is controlled by the state--when the central government considers them illegal. She argues that local states tolerate these churches to contain the underground practice of Protestantism. Containment necessitates a bargain between informal religious organizations and the state. Even though they are not regulated, unregistered churches are allowed to operate conditionally, so long as church leaders keep a low profile, share information as needed with local authorities, and agree that the state will not grant them formal institutional recognition. Reny also considers authoritarian regimes other than China that employ a similar strategy to control informal religious communities. She focuses on two Middle East cases-President Sadat's control of the Muslim Brotherhood in 1970s Egypt and the Jordanian monarchy's containment of jihadi Salafists after 2006. By reducing the incentives for local religious leaders to politicize and inducing such leaders to willingly provide inside information, governments can avoid the heavy hand of coercion and forceful co-optation. Based on extensive fieldwork, Authoritarian Containment offers insight into the way authoritarian regimes neutralize underground religious leaders and discourage opposition to the state.

"This book is clearly argued and based on ample evidence. Whoever is interested in comparative politics and contemporary relationships between religion and state will benefit from reading it." - Shu-chen Hsuhsiung, University of Alberta, Religious Studies Review

"Authoritarian Containment offers a timely and insightful investigation of the Chinese government's toleration of Protestant Christianity in metropolitan cities. The major takeaway of this book is its conceptual clarity. Marie-Eve Reny should be praised for explaining the diverse linkages between religious governance and authoritarian resilience in China's single-party system...In short, Authoritarian Containment is theoretically sophisticated and well written, and its findings should appeal to Chinese historians, political scientists, and religious scholars." - Joseph Tse-Hei Lee, Pace University, China Information

"In sum, the book indeed clearly illustrates an important strategy used by an authoritarian regime toward specific undesirable religious groups...the book undoubtedly provides a useful, well-argued analysis of how containment is used by an authoritarian regime to deal with unwelcome religious groups." - Ke-hsien Huang, National Taiwan University, Review of Religion and Chinese Society