Revolutionary Transformations
The People's Republic of China in the 1950s
Published on 6. November 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
306 pages
978-1-009-30409-2 (ISBN)
Description
Using first-hand material from Chinese archives that are no longer open to researchers, and bringing together a leading team of international scholars, this volume is a major contribution to the study of the People's Republic of China. Calling into question existing narratives on the foundational decade of the PRC, these essays present a nuanced consideration of China in the 1950s by integrating two periods that are often considered separately: the relatively 'happy' years 1949-1956 with the relatively 'unhappy' years from 1957 onwards. Exploring the challenges faced in constructing socialism, the transnational context, and early modes of PRC governance, the contributors highlight the ways in which China was shaped by diversity on all levels and scales in how socialism was enacted and experienced. These essays clearly demonstrate how the unevenness of Party control created discrepancies and variations between different regions and between the center and the locale.
Reviews / Votes
'Revolutionary Transformations brings together an impressive collection of Chinese and Western scholars to reassess the founding decade of the People's Republic of China-from the global to the national to the local level. Building on over two decades of new scholarship it brings to life a decade that saw triumph and tragedy and shapes China today.' Timothy Cheek, University of British Columbia 'Covering an astonishingly wide array of topics, from China's place in the socialist world to the coal industry, sports and movies, modalities of state-building, state-ordered relocation of urban populations, letters from common people to the PRC government, and more, this volume greatly enriches our appreciation of the diverse range of experiences that characterized China's revolutionary transformations.' Micah Muscolino, University of California, San DiegoMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Illustrations
Worked examples or Exercises
Dimensions
Height: 228 mm
Width: 151 mm
Thickness: 18 mm
Weight
410 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-009-30409-2 (9781009304092)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Anja Blanke | Julia C. Strauss | Klaus Muehlhahn
Revolutionary Transformations
The People's Republic of China in the 1950s
Book
04/2023
Cambridge University Press
€113.50
Shipment within 15-20 days
Persons
Content
Introduction: revolutionary transformations in 1950s China Julia C. Strauss, Anja Blanke and Klaus Muehlhahn; Part I. Revolution and the Transnational: Introduction to Part I Klaus Muehlhahn; 1. International relations and China's position in the socialist camp Susanne Weigelin-Schwiedrzik; 2. Sino-Soviet anxiety: science and Chinese conditions in the PRC coal industry (1949-1965) Anna Belogurova; 3. Producing socialist bodies: transnational sports networks and athletes in 1950s China Amanda Shuman; 4. Asia's fourth Rome: cultural industries and cultural diplomacy in the international legitimization of the People's Republic of China, 1949-1953 Matthew D. Johnson; Part II. Domestic Governance: Inheriting empire, revolutionizing society: Introduction to Part II Julia C. Strauss; 5. Modalities of state building: bureaucracy, campaign, and performance in Sunan, 1950-1953 Julia C. Strauss; 6. The wilds of revolution: anti-localism and Hainanese women in the early People's Republic of China Jeremy A. Murray and Alexander J. Serran; 7. Reconstruction and solidification: restructuring of the 'peasant' status in the 1950s dispersal of Shanghai's urban population Ruan Qinghua; Part III. Legitimacy (Local) Agencies: Introduction to Part III Anja Blake; 8. Anxiety in the revolutionary turn: Shanghai film personnel in the 1950s Zhang Jishun; 9. Letters from the people: the masses and the mass line in 1950s China Aminda M. Smith; 10. Cadres, grain, and rural conflicts: a study of criminal cases in a village during the great leap forward Wenyu Jing; 11. How the CCP has failed to obtain control over China's collective memory on the 1950s Anja Blanke; 12. Postscript: rethinking China under Mao Klaus Muehlhahn.