This is a portrait of social change in the North China Plain which depicts how the world of the Chinese peasant evolved during an era of war and revolution and how it in turn shaped the revolutionary process. The authors spent a decade interviewing villagers and rural officials, exploring archives and investigating villagers with diverse resources and cultural traditions, and they describe both the promise and human tragedy of China's rural revolution. Exploring the decades before and after the establishment of the People's Republic in 1949, the authors trace the growing economic desperation and cultural disintegration that led to the revolution, the reforms undertaken by the communist leadership that initially brought economic gains and cultural healing, and the tensions that soon developed between party and peasantry.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Insightful and informative,
By TIM ZACHERNUK (Huoshan, Anhui China) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Chinese Village, Socialist State (Paperback)
It has been two years since I read this book, but I see it hasn't had a review yet, and I think it deserves one, so I add my two bits.A very detailed analysis of the developments in rural Chinese society over a period of massive upheaval. Provides tremendous insight into the social mechanisms at play, and the interplay of contemporary political movements with the traditional power structures in rural China. For anyone interested in or involved in rural development in China, a drama which is still going on in the 21st century, a must read. Also recommended for anyone interested in the interactions between policy-directed, centrally planned development and the way society responds to it. Would like to see a similar follow up on the years between the cultural revolution and the present.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
chinese village, socialist state,
By A Customer
This review is from: Chinese Village, Socialist State (Hardcover)
This volume makes important contributions to our understanding of the Chinese revolution. . . . The entrenchment of networks of loyalty among local leaders and higher level officials of the emerging party-state is a central element of the authors' analysis. As the state extended its control over both the urban and rural economies, it increasingly monopolized the allocation of scarce resources. . . . Given the authors' trenchant critique of the Communist party's economically irrational commitment to rapid, large-scale collectivization, it is unfortunate that they have not addressed the implications of their work for the decollectivizing rural reforms of the post-Mao era, when many aspects of the peasant household economy have been restored. Perhaps there is a sequel in the making
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