Calamity and Reform in China: State, Rural Society, and Institutional Change Since the Great Leap Famine [Paperback]

Dali Yang (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 1998 | ISBN-10: 0804734704 | ISBN-13: 978-0804734707 | Edition: 1

China's Great Leap Famine of 1959-61 resulted in 30 million deaths, making it easily the worst famine in human history. Yet unlike the Cultural Revolution - that other massive catastrophe of Mao's rule - the Great Leap Forward has received scant scholarly attention. This is partly because victims of the ensuing famine were inarticulate farmers and partly because many key players in that inglorious era are members of the current elite who tightly guard the archives. Despite these impediments, the author has marshalled an impressive array of historical documents to provide the first comprehensive treatment of the political causes and consequences of the Great Leap Famine. The Famine is important because it furnished the crucial historical motives for dismantling the rural collective institutional structure in post-Mao China two decades later and motivating tens of millions of ordinary Chinese to enact the reforms.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“This is a very impressive achievement. What is so good about it is the theoretical and statistical sophistication, the emphasis on regional variation, and the learning it displays, not only with regard to China but in general. It contains much new material of enormous value.”—Thomas P. Bernstein, Columbia University

“On the basis of a wealth of primary and secondary sources, the book provides a vigorous treatment of the origin and consequences of the Great Leap Forward as well as the institutions and processes involved in China’s rural reforms. Yang’s book is an impressive scholarly addition to our study of contemporary Chinese politics.”—Journal of Asian Studies

From the Publisher

China's Great Leap Famine of 1959-61 resulted in 30 million deaths, making it easily the worst famine in human history. Yet unlike the Cultural Revolution--that other massive catastrophe of Mao's rule--the Great Leap Famine has received scant attention, partly because most victims of the famine were inarticulate farmers and partly because many key players in that inglorious era are members of the current elite who tightly guard the archives. Despite these impediments, the author has marshaled an impressive array of historical documents, buttressed by social science theories and analytical techniques, to provide the first book-length treatment of the political causes and consequences of the Great Leap Famine.

The Great Leap Famine is important not only because it was one of the worst tragedies in human history, but also because it furnished the crucial historical motives for dismantling the rural collective institutional structure in post-Mao China two decades later. The dynamics of the ensuing overall reform, still under way, cannot be fully appreciated without reference to the Great Leap Famine.

By tracing the causal patterns leading from revolution to famine and then to reform, this book explains much about how and why the Chinese revolution self-destructed. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Stanford University Press; 1 edition (August 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0804734704
• ISBN-13: 978-0804734707
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #825,112 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars comparative economic studies review, October 23, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Calamity and Reform in China: State, Rural Society, and Institutional Change Since the Great Leap Famine (Paperback)

Calamity and Reform in China presents a fascinating alternative (but not mutually exclusive) explanation of the process by which the revolutionary and highly productive family responsibility system was established in China during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Yang notes that explanations centering on the Cultural Revolution and the role of leaders such as Deng Xiaoping are only partial determinants of that great change. His welldocumented thesis points to the impact of the Great Leap Famine on the attitudes and actions of Chinese peasants and their subsequent persistent activities to establish and/or maintain "household contracting" in one form or the other.

Calamity and Reform. . . is an excellent example of integrated social science research. It represents an important reinterpretation of Chinese history and policy, and it adds to our appreciation of the ways in which catastrophic events may play important roles in major social changes. Hence, the book also contributes to the current controversy concerning evolutionary change and path dependency (or hysteresis). Finally, Yang's analysis testifies to the understandable and delightful propensity of individuals (in whatever station of life) to do what they find to be in their particular interests. Calamity and Reform . . . is must reading for all students of the Chinese experience and all students concerned with the efficacy of collectivist economic structures.

Author Affiliation:

Robert M. Fearn

North Carolina State University

5.0 out of 5 stars excerpt from review in Political Studies, December 2, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Calamity and Reform in China: State, Rural Society, and Institutional Change Since the Great Leap Famine (Paperback)

'Drawing together thoughtful political analysis and careful reading of many Chinese sources. Dali Yang has produced a fascinating study of institutional change in rural China from the late 1950s to the 1990s ... In all, this is a fine example of the way in which the discipline of politics and area studies can be fruitfully brought together to the enrichment of both.' Jane Duckett, Political Studies

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars publication info and reviews, July 15, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Calamity and Reform in China: State, Rural Society, and Institutional Change Since the Great Leap Famine (Hardcover)

Now in Paperback

Calamity and Reform in China State, Rural Society, and Institutional Change Since the Great Leap Famine

Dali L. Yang

Reviews

"On the basis of a wealth of primary and secondary sources, the book provides a vigorous treatment of the origin and consequences of the Great Leap Forward as well as the institutions and processes involved in China's rural reforms. Yang's book is an impressive scholarly addition to our study of contemporary Chinese politics. It should be of great interest to China scholars as well as anyone interested in the reforms of postcommunist societies." -Journal of Asian Studies

"The book is the ! ! best in a series of studies of the political economy of state and rural society in contemporary China, superseding earlier studies by virtue of its conceptual clarity and quality of evidence." -American Journal of Sociology

"The best history books are capable of two feats: debunking conventional wisdom and casting light on hidden events. Yang does both in Calamity and Reform in China. On one level, the book is a milestone in understanding the worst famine in human history. . . . On another level, Yang takes pleasure in debunking the popular myth that China's ongoing experiment with capitalism sprang immaculately from the wreckage of the Communists' other great disaster, the Cultural Revolution. . . . This is a fresh, forcefully! ! presented analysis that helps me unde! rstand where China is heading." -Asian Wall Street Journal

Dali L. Yang is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago.