Historians have well chronicled Mao Zedong's crimes against the people of China over his four decades of rule, but his crimes against the Chinese land have been less studied. Judith Shapiro, a historian at American University, tells that dark story with admirable thoroughness.
A central tenet of Maoist ideology was the rejection of both ancient Chinese tradition and modern Western science, both of which offered an ample store of evidence to suggest that rivers flow best when unimpeded, that biological diversity is a good and necessary thing. Instead, Mao Zedong insisted, the laws of historical materialism mandated that everything in creation be put into the service of the revolution: Forests had to be felled to make steel for China's industrial development, mountains had to be leveled to make room for agricultural fields, rivers had to be reversed in their courses to provide power and irrigation. Marshaling the people of China in campaigns to clear land and destroy grain-hungry birds, among other things, Mao remade the landscape in just a few years, ordering imperial-scale projects such as the Three Gorges Dam. His policies led to disaster, to deforestation, air and water pollution, and ultimately famine--but some of those policies are still in force.
Shapiro observes that Mao Zedong cannot be held entirely accountable for the destruction of China's land, water, and air; he had, after all, many willing deputies. Still, the political repression he put in place made resistance almost impossible--and even today, Shapiro writes in her impressive study of Mao's war on the environment, his actions have proved difficult to undo. "Until China confronts its uneasy Maoist legacy," the author concludes, "it may struggle fruitlessly to achieve a sustainable relationship with the natural world." --Gregory McNamee
In China during the Mao years, Shapiro writes, "coercive state behavior such as forcible relocations and suppression of intellectual and political freedoms contributed directly to a wide range of environmental problems ranging from deforestation and desertification to ill-conceived engineering projects that degraded major river courses." Indeed, "few cases of environmental degradation so clearly reveal the human and environmental costs incurred when human beings, particularly those who determine policy, view themselves as living in an oppositional relationship to nature." Shapiro, who teaches environmental politics at American University in Washington, D.C., examines closely such disastrous Mao projects as the Three Gate Gorge Dam on the Yellow River and the devastation of agriculture through campaigns that imposed a uniform agricultural model on the entire country regardless of local conditions. China's environmental problems continue today, 25 years after Mao's death, although Shapiro sees some "apparently serious efforts" by the central government to deal with them. She also sees the possibility that "a government may yet evolve that is environmentally responsible and responsive."
EDITORS OF SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN
Review
"Shapiro is a gifted storyteller, and the book is a fascinating read...a must-read for anyone interested in understanding not only all that the Chinese people have endured in their recent past but also how those turbulent times shape the current environment and future possiblities." WWW.WASHINGTONPOST.COM
"We knew that Mao traumatized the psyche of his nation. Now, thanks to Judith Shapiro's meticulous research and fine writing, Westerners can realize just how badly he traumatized its landscape and resources. I've never read a better argument for openness in decision-making. An utterly fascinating book." Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature and Maybe One
"This important volume offers food for thought for those concerned about China's environmental past and future and the broader connections between humans and nature." American Historical Review
"Dr. Shapiro's well-researched book records the disastrous degradation of China's natural environment during the era of Mao Zedong. The traditional teaching that men must live in harmony with nature was declared backward and counter-revolutionary. Scholars and experts who opposed his policy were persecuted. As a result, damage to China's environment will take generations to recover. This book provides a timely warning, and an encouragement to the enlightened few who have realized the seriousness of the situation." Nien Cheng, author of Life and Death in Shanghai
"The case studies are informative and well done." American Political Science Review
"In an illuminating and absorbing account, Judith Shapiro reveals how Mao's policies resulted in such massive environmental degradation that it clouds China's future despite current conservation efforts. Even today, countries often seem to subscribe to Mao's dictum, 'Man Must Conquer Nature.' China's mistakes offer important lessons for everyone, as this timely book so lucidly describes." George B. Schaller, Wildlife Conservation Society; author of The Last Panda
"well-written...It tells a shocking story that needs to be told, but ends on a note of hope." Nature
"This book represents the first Western-language work to elucidate the environmental problems of the Mao era. Mao's War Against Nature will become the classic book on this topic and is essential reading for anyone interested in the Chinese environment or the legacy of the Mao era. The discussions of Ma Yinchu and Huang Wanli are unique and provide excellent case studies of the problems intellectuals encountered during those years." Richard Louis Edmonds, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London; author of Patterns of China's Lost Harmony
"engaging...compelling" Dow Jones News Service
Book Description
This book tells the story of environmental destruction and human suffering during the Mao years.
