Revolution and Remaking: Mao Zedong and the People's Republic, 1949–1976 MTA
Policy experiments, campaigns, and everyday life under Maoist rule

About this book:

*Revolution and Remaking* provides a comprehensive history of the People’s Republic of China under Mao Zedong, balancing a top-down political narrative of state-building with a bottom-up social history of everyday life. The book traces the evolution of the party-state from its 1949 founding through the implementation of transformative policies such as land reform, the First Five-Year Plan, and the institutionalization of the work unit and *hukou* systems. It examines how the CCP utilized mass mobilization campaigns as a "governing technology" to reshape property, labor, and social hierarchies, while also exploring how ordinary citizens negotiated these state-driven changes in their kitchens, schools, and workplaces.

The narrative details the radical shifts in Maoist governance, moving from the state-building and collectivization of the 1950s to the utopian ambitions and catastrophic famine of the Great Leap Forward. Following a brief period of pragmatic readjustment in the early 1960s, the book analyzes the Cultural Revolution's assault on authority, the rise of Red Guard factionalism, and the subsequent restoration of order through military-led Revolutionary Committees. Throughout these upheavals, the text highlights the persistent structures of the Maoist era, including the "Down to the Countryside" movement, the creation of barefoot doctors, and the rigid control of culture through model operas and thought reform.

In its final sections, the book explores the complexities of Mao’s last years, characterized by intense factional infighting between pragmatists and the "Gang of Four" alongside a surprising diplomatic rapprochement with the United States. It concludes by assessing the profound legacies of Maoism—a system that achieved significant national integration and industrial expansion but at a staggering human cost involving pervasive surveillance, scarcity, and political violence. By the time of Mao’s death in 1976, China remained a society deeply transformed by decades of continuous revolution, poised between his radical ideological vision and a growing popular desire for stability and reform.

What You'll Find Inside:

• The book examines how Maoist campaigns like land reform, collectivization, and the Cultural Revolution were implemented at the grassroots level and experienced by ordinary people
• It analyzes the dual nature of Maoist governance - top-down policy conception and bottom-up social history of implementation
• The work explores how institutions like the work unit and hukou system structured everyday life and opportunities
• It covers major economic experiments including the First Five-Year Plan and Great Leap Forward, showing their ambitions and human costs
• The book traces China's foreign policy evolution from Korean War involvement to rapprochement with the United States

Who's It For:

This book is ideal for students and scholars of modern Chinese history, particularly those interested in the social and political dynamics of Maoist rule. It will benefit readers seeking to understand how revolutionary policies affected everyday life, as well as those studying the mechanisms of state control and social transformation in 20th-century revolutions. General readers with an interest in Chinese history and revolutionary movements will also find valuable insights into this pivotal period.