Reconstructing Twentieth Century China: (Studies on Contemporary China)

This book, the result of a collaborative effort between scholars from Europe, Asia, and the US, argues that the central underlying theme of China's development trajectory in this century is `reconstruction' or jianshe, a keyword in twentieth-century Chinese political discourse. The impulse to reform and rebuild has erupted on a national scale every several years and include The May Fourth Movement, the Nanjing decade of 192737, The Yan'an reconsolidation and expansion of communism, the Great Leap Forward, the 1980 reforms, the Democracy Movement, and most recently, China's exploding economy. The contributions examine how a range of actorspolitical leaders, village reformers, government bureaucrats, entrepreneurs, women of child-bearing age, intellectuals, members of ethnic minorities, and local cadreshave reacted to these movements and transitions. They also highlight the importance of the state at the local and central level and discuss the prospects for the continuous search for a national identity balanced between powerful nationalist traditions and manifest cultural diversity. In examining these crucial aspects the contributors rely on new material in the form of original research and extensive fieldwork.

Table of Contents:
1: Kjeld Erik Brødsgaard and David Strand: Introduction Part I: State Control 2: David Strand: Calling the Chinese People to Order: Sun Yat-Sen's Rhetoric of Development 3: Ryosei Kokubun: The Essence of Contemporary Chinese Bureaucracy: Socialism, Modernization, and Political Culture 4: Cecilia Milwertz: Control as Care: Interaction between Urban Women and Birth Planning Workers 5: Susan Young: Ownership and Community Interest in China's Rural Enterprises Part II: Civil Society 6: Stig Thøgersen: Reconstructing Society: Liang Shuming and the Rural Construction Movement in Shandong 7: Thomas Gold: Bases for Civil Society in Reform China 8: Kjeld Erik Brødsgaard: State and Society in Hainan: Liao Xun's Ideas on `Small Government, Big Society' 9: Torstein Hjellum: Is a Participant Culture Emerging in China? Part III: National Identity 10: David Strand: Party Policy and `National Culture': Towards a State-directed Cultural Nationalism in China? 11: Mette Halskov Hansen: Fostering `Love of Learning': Naxi Responses to Ethnic Images in Chinese State Education 12: Harald Bøckman: China Deconstructs? The Future of the Chinese Empire-State in a Historical Perspective Index