Great Achievements, Big Failures: How to Evaluate the Social Changes of the Mao Era
In the Mao Era (1949–1976), millions of Chinese people experienced social upward mobility, while others were marginalized or lost their lives. Efforts to build a communist society created hopes, dreams, fear, enthusiasm, disillusion, painful disappointments and nostalgia. The Chinese people made great strides, but they also experienced traumatic setbacks. The talk will discuss the achievements and failures related to economic growth, access to basic entitlements, and social mobility and change. Furthermore, the question will be discussed how we are to judge success. On the question of progress in human rights, should we confine ourselves to the CCP’s own goals, or should we instead stress today’s accepted metrics, such as the UN’s Human Development Index? Should we compare the Mao era to pre-1949 Republican China, to the relatively peaceful Nanjing Decade under the GMD before the Sino-Japanese War (1928–1937), to the progress of Taiwan after 1949 or to developments in the Reform era since 1978?
Date: 28 May 2019, 17:00 (Tuesday, 5th week, Trinity 2019)
Venue: Dickson Poon Building, Canterbury Road OX2 6LU
Venue Details: Kin-Ku Cheng Lecture Theatre
Speaker: Felix Wemheuer (University of Cologne)
Organiser: Professor Rana Mitter
Organiser contact email address: clare.orchard@orinst.ox.ac.uk
Host: Professor Rana Mitter
Booking required?: Not required
Audience: Public
Editor: Clare Orchard