People's History of Ideas Podcast

Urban Revolution in Beijing during the Great Leap Forward: An Interview with leading China scholar Fabio Lanza

This interview with Dr. Fabio Lanza of the University of Arizona touches on topics related to his new book, Urban Revolution: People’s Communes in Beijing. Topics include the transformation of cities under socialism, women’s liberation, the political economy of socialist society, the Great Leap Forward, and the role of barbers and hairdressers under socialism.Further reading:Fabio Lanza, Urban Revolution: People’s Communes in Beijing Fabio Lanza, The End of Concern: Maoist China, Activism, and Asian Studies Joel Andreas, Disenfranchised: The Rise and Fall of Industrial Citizenship in China Mariarosa Dalla Costa, “Women and the Subversion of the Community” Sigrid Schmalzer, “China's Great Leap Famine: Malthus, Marx, Mao, and Material Scarcity” Sigrid Schmalzer, Red Revolution, Green Revolution: Scientific Farming in Socialist ChinaGail Hershatter, The Gender of Memory: Rural Women and China's Collective Past Jeremy Brown, City Versus Countryside in Mao's China. Negotiating the Divide Kimberly Ens Manning, “Making a Great Leap Forward? The Politics of Women’s Liberation in Maoist China” H-PRC Website (Besides articles and reviews by anglophone scholars, H-PRC also has a section (Revisiting the Revolution) with translations of essays by Chinese scholars on the history of the People’s Republic of China.)Episode artwork: The cover of Fabio Lanza's new book, Urban RevolutionSubscribe on Substack: peopleshistoryofideas.substack.comSupport the show

Winning Over Enemy Troops: Mao’s Leninist Approach to Fomenting Mutiny in the Guomindang (January 1930)

When the enemy advances, Mao and Zhu retreat from Fujian into Jiangxi province, drawing the Guomindang’s joint suppression force deep in after them, only to later circle back around and defeat it. In this episode we discuss how Mao conducted propaganda directed at enemy troops in order to win them over to join the Red Army.Further reading:Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography, vol. 1: 1893-1949Bixin Huang, “A Movement Without Vitality: Communist Revolution in Fujian, 1924-1934”Mao Zedong nianpu, 1893-1937 (毛泽东年谱) Agnes Smedley, The Great Road: The Life and Times of Chu Teh [Zhu De]Some names from this episode:Lin Biao, commander of the first column of the Fourth Red ArmyJin Handing, commander of the joint-suppression force launched against the western Fujian base areaLo Pinghui, Yunnanese colonel who switched from the Guomindang to the CommunistsEpisode artwork: photo of Jin HandingSubscribe on Substack: peopleshistoryofideas.substack.comSupport the show

A Single Spark Can Start a Prairie Fire (January 1930) (Part Two)

We conclude our close reading of Mao’s January 5, 1930 letter to Lin Biao. In this episode, Mao discusses his method for understanding the possibilities for revolution in China, as well as the particular tactics to be employed by the Red Army. He also conducts a minor self-criticism.Further reading:Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography, vol. 1: 1893-1949Mao Zedong, “A Single Spark Can Start a Prairie Fire”Some names from this episode:Lin Biao, commander of the first column of the Fourth Red ArmyLu Diping, general who ruled Hunan from 1928–29 and Jiangxi from 1929-31Episode artwork:Envelope from a different letter that Mao wrote to Lin BiaoSubscribe on Substack: peopleshistoryofideas.substack.comSupport the show

A Single Spark Can Start a Prairie Fire (January 1930) (Part One)

We begin our close reading of Mao’s January 5, 1930 letter to Lin Biao.Further reading:Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography, vol. 1: 1893-1949David Apter and Tony Saich, Revolutionary Discourse in Mao’s RepublicMao Zedong, “A Single Spark Can Start a Prairie Fire”Some names from this episode:Lin Biao, commander of the first column of the Fourth Red ArmyLi Lisan, leading CommunistHe Long, leader of a soviet in the Hunan-Hubei border regionLi Wenlin, leader of Donggu base areaFang Zhimin, leader of Northeastern Jiangxi sovietEpisode artwork:Picture of a prairie fire (in Illinois)Subscribe on Substack: peopleshistoryofideas.substack.comSupport the show

How Brainwashing was Good and Maoist Propaganda was True: An Interview with leading China scholar Aminda Smith

This interview with Dr. Aminda Smith of Michigan State University touches on topics including why good PRC history is left history; thought reform, reeducation through labor, and brainwashing; the veracity of the propaganda produced for a global audience during the Mao years; and the Maoist legacy in China today.Further reading and watching:Aminda Smith, Thought Reform and China’s Dangerous Classes Aminda Smith, “The Maoism of PRC History” Aminda Smith, “Brainwashing and World Revolution” Aminda Smith, “The Legacies of 'Brainwashing': Cold War Ideology and Modern Chinese History” (the content of this talk is similar to the paywalled book chapter on brainwashing)Stephen Andors, China’s Industrial RevolutionPositions Politics website H-PRC website Brian DeMare, Land Wars: The Story of China's Agrarian RevolutionRichard Wolin, The Wind From the East: French Intellectuals, the Cultural Revolution, and the Legacy of the 1960s Philosophy is no Mystery Mao Zedong, “On Contradiction” Jonathan Spence, The Search for Modern ChinaZheng Yangwen, Ten Lessons in Modern Chinese History Maurice Meisner, Mao's China and AfterJonathan Spence, The Gate of Heavenly Peace: The Chinese and Their Revolution Rebecca Karl, Mao Zedong and China in the Twentieth-Century World: A Concise History Yueran Zhang, “Leninists in a Chinese Factory: Reflections on the Jasic Labour Organising Strategy” “Seeing through Muddied Waters, Part 1: Jasic, Strikes & Unions” “New Alliance of Students-Workers in Struggle of Union Formation: The Case of Jasic Conflict” “Longing for the Cultural Revolution in China Today” Rae Yang, Spider Eaters: A MemoirSupport the show