Revolutionary Transformations
The People's Republic of China in the 1950s

An international team of scholars explore China's transformative revolutionary decade, the 1950s, calling into question existing narratives.

Anja Blanke (Edited by), Julia C. Strauss (Edited by), Klaus Mühlhahn (Edited by)

9781009304108, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 13 April 2023

304 pages
23.5 x 15.8 x 2.2 cm, 0.58 kg

'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 Diego

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.

Introduction: revolutionary transformations in 1950s China Julia C. Strauss, Anja Blanke and Klaus Mühlhahn
Part I. Revolution and the Transnational: Introduction to Part I Klaus Mühlhahn
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 Mühlhahn.

Subject Areas: Political structure & processes [JPH], Postwar 20th century history, from c 1945 to c 2000 [HBLW3], Asian history [HBJF]