Lecture 09-28-05, Foreign Cultures 63

FOREIGN CULTURES 63

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Note: start thinking about paper topic (proposal due October 23); talk to prof. or TF about this Post-1949 social patterns in China Does not have to fit into the two revolutions framework examples: success/lack of success in implementing universal education; moving urban individuals to rural regions (during cultural revolution); effect of family planning; efforts to suppress religions in Chinese villages Recall village dynamics Renting land; led to relative inequality Social structure organized according to kinship (lineage; clans), not economics status, etc. Prior to the communist period, families would be rivals – poorer members of the clan looked to richer members for support and backing Communists wanted to erode family consciousness, foster class consciousness Educational system in late imperial China Philosophical, moral training key to education; this was built into the examination system Tests open to basically all of the promising men in all families Specific kind of philosophical, moral training based on the Confucian orthodoxy Begin appointed to an official position brought great pride and wealth to a family line Schooling was not run by the state – local, community run schools; all tended to operate in a similar fashion b/c they were targeted toward the exams Highly specialized type of education; no math, science; not a “practical” education as we see it This system was not abolished until 1906 Still, not many people did it (?); high opportunity cost of pursuing this unpractical education By 1900, 1/3 of males literate; 5% of females literate China’s crisis (see Eastman chapters) General perception that from 1900 onward, China was being exploited by foreign powers Hong Kong ceded, treaty ports that were dishonorable Inequality, poverty, natural disasters Therefore internal pressure for China to reform and do something about the downturn People looked to the rural as the problem (saw a need for agricultural reform). Different views Chinese communists: saw inequality as the problem – though wealthy were parasitic; exploited workers; thought solution was a fundamental attack on class inequality Led to land reform, collectivization (post-1949) Alternative arguments in 1920s-30s: problem of relationship between farming technology and population; view that population had grown too fast, yet little change in technology solution to get farmers to use better techniques, population control Note: Communists rejected this rival analysis (although in recent years, the current communist regime has begun to accept it)

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Third argument: the crisis was simply a product of disorder (warlord period, followed by Japanese invasion and civil war). Political stability required for successful production was absent Social revolution to institute socialism (post-1949) Reliance on Soviet advisors Many institutions developed after 1st revolution modeled after the Soviet Union (also, after 2nd revolution, attempt to undo Soviet institutions) Marxist ideas “Historical materialism” – the assumption that the nature of society is determined by the type of economy in place; moreover, history progresses in an economic fashion (forces of production/relations of production); means of production = capital stock (factories, etc), relations of production = those who own capital stock. slavery  feudal societies  capitalist  socialist  communist Historical materialism holds that the transition from one state to another occurs through class conflict and eventually revolution. Note: when we call China “communist” that is a political designation; in Marxist theory, there has yet to be a true communist state (it is a utopian notion that only exists in the future); socialism: distribution according to contribution; communism: distribution according to need. Lenin (1917 revolution in Soviet Union) and other communist rulers (Mao) ran into the problem that a capitalist society was first necessary to start a socialist society; Lenin didn’t want to “wait around”, so he sped up the process via political ideas in “what is to be done” (pamphlet) Lenin argued that there needed to be a new party organization that could catapult society into socialism before the material requirements were met; developed the idea of a communist party. Elite party – needed dedicated members who would put the party first; special process of training and selection Hierarchical, authoritarian structure; “democratic centralism” – party decisionmaking is democratic, yet once the decision is complete, everyone must be totally dedicated to the decision. Any democracy is at the very top level. Create a very disciplined party Stalin Defined more sharply what it meant to be a socialist society 5 year plans Collectivization drive in the countryside By 1936 authorities declared that socialism had been established in the USSR Gave “socialism” a concrete form What happens to this class struggle that Marxism advocates? Stalin said that there should be an intensification of class struggle when communism rises, since the outgoing classes will try to retain their struggle; led to purges. N. Kruschoff Mao’s counterpart in the USSR

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In 1956 as part of his consolidation of power made a secret speech to that communist congress that denounced Stalin’s crimes. Declared that large-scale class struggle had no place in the USSR. Mao didn’t like this announcement – contributes to the Sino-Soviet conflict in the 1960s