Mao's War against Nature: Politics and the Environment in Revolutionary China (Studies in Environment and History)

Author: Shapiro, Judith

Brand: Cambridge University Press

Binding: paperback

Number Of Pages: 332

Release Date: 05-03-2001

Part Number: 25 b/w illus. 13 maps 1 table

Details: Product Description
Judith Shapiro, in clear and compelling prose, relates the great, untold story of the devastating impact of Chinese politics on China's environment during the Mao years. Maoist China provides an example of extreme human interference in the natural world in an era in which human relationships were also unusually distorted. Under Mao, the traditional Chinese ideal of 'harmony between heaven and humans' was abrogated in favor of Mao's insistence that 'People Will Conquer Nature'. Mao and the Chinese Communist Party's 'war' to bend the physical world to human will often had disastrous consequences both for human beings and the natural environment. Mao's War Against Nature argues that the abuse of people and the abuse of nature are often linked. Shapiro's account, told in part through the voices of average Chinese citizens and officials who lived through and participated in some of the destructive campaigns, is both eye-opening and heartbreaking.
Amazon.com Review
Historians have well chronicled Mao Zedong's crimes against the people of China over his four decades of rule, but his crimes against the Chinese land have been less studied. Judith Shapiro, a historian at American University, tells that dark story with admirable thoroughness.
A central tenet of Maoist ideology was the rejection of both ancient Chinese tradition and modern Western science, both of which offered an ample store of evidence to suggest that rivers flow best when unimpeded, that biological diversity is a good and necessary thing. Instead, Mao Zedong insisted, the laws of historical materialism mandated that everything in creation be put into the service of the revolution: Forests had to be felled to make steel for China's industrial development, mountains had to be leveled to make room for agricultural fields, rivers had to be reversed in their courses to provide power and irrigation. Marshaling the people of China in campaigns to clear land and destroy grain-hungry birds, among other things, Mao remade the landscape in just a few years, ordering imperial-scale projects such as the Three Gorges Dam. His policies led to disaster, to deforestation, air and water pollution, and ultimately famine--but some of those policies are still in force.
Shapiro observes that Mao Zedong cannot be held entirely accountable for the destruction of China's land, water, and air; he had, after all, many willing deputies. Still, the political repression he put in place made resistance almost impossible--and even today, Shapiro writes in her impressive study of Mao's war on the environment, his actions have proved difficult to undo. "Until China confronts its uneasy Maoist legacy," the author concludes, "it may struggle fruitlessly to achieve a sustainable relationship with the natural world." --Gregory McNamee
Review
'Shapiro's well-written book … tells a shocking story that needs to be told.' Crispin Tickell, Nature

'Shapiro is a gifted storyteller, and the book is a fascinating read … a must-read for anyone interested in understanding not only all that the Chinese people have endured in their recent past but also how those turbulent times shape the current environment and future possibilities.' Elizabeth Economy, www.washingtonpost.com

'Both for readers interested in China's past and for those concerned about its future, the story Shapiro tells is a valuable account of Mao's regime - one of the last century's most tragic episodes.' Natural History

'… this illuminating book makes an important contribution to assessing the enormous damage done between the Communist takeover in 1949 and Mao's death in 1976. Shapiro is excellent at putting Mao's thought in its historical and cultural context.' China Review
Book Description
This book tells the story of environmental destruction and human suffering during the Mao years.

EAN: 9780521786805

Package Dimensions: 9.0 x 6.0 x 0.8 inches

Languages: English