|
Mao's War against Nature: Politics and the Environment in Revolutionary China (Studies in Environment and History) | 
 enlarge | Author: Judith Shapiro
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Category: Book
List Price: $29.99
Buy New: $15.00
You Save: $14.99 (50%)
New (19) Used (17) from $8.15
Rating:  5 reviews
Sales Rank: 422807
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 332
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 8.8 x 6 x 0.9
ISBN: 0521786800
Dewey Decimal Number: 363.7009510904
EAN: 9780521786805
ASIN: 0521786800
Publication Date: March 5, 2001
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
| |
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
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
Product Description
In clear and compelling prose, Judith Shapiro 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 "Man Must 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. Judith Shapiro teaches environmental politics at American University in Washington, DC. She is co-author, with Liang Heng, of several well known books on China, including Son of the Revolution (Random House, 1984) and After the Nightmare (Knopf, 1986). She was one of the first Americans to work in China after the normalization of U.S.-China relations in 1979.
Book Description
Under Mao, the traditional Chinese ideal of "harmony between heaven and humans" was abrogated in favor of Mao's insistence that "Man Must 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 the people and the abuse of nature are often linked.
|
| Customer Reviews:
Mao's War Against Nature September 29, 2008
Book was much appreciated. Useful for a specific research project; well written but could have had more detail, which would be difficult given the enormity of the subject. Appears to be the only reference on this issue. Would recommend it to anyone interested in one of the more insidious sides of Mao's campaigns.
The death of an ethos September 13, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Even the most casual look at Chinese panoramic art over the centuries reveals an emphasis on nature. Every scene is embedded in nature, whether it be white-capped mountains, forests of tall trees, bubbling rivers that criss cross green plains, etc... Whether it is scenes of chinese royalty parading through villages, or chinese philosophers reclining in the countryside, the coexistence of man in nature is a central theme in Chinese history, art, and culture. Then came the 2oth century and the Communist Revolution in the 1940s. With Mao came a new modus operandi between man and nature, one that threw out balance and replaced it with one of exploitation. It is this exploitation that is the focus of this book.
The book was written by an American who has lived and studied in China for decades. The author has apparantly interviewed hundreds, if not thousands of Chinese citizens with bittersweet memories since the 1950s. These memories portray a society built from the top down, that is out of touch with its own geography and natural environment. The chapters of the book chronologically explore various episodes of Communist China's exploitation of the environment. Each one focuses on several individuals who tried to stop a specific government policy, but who were repressed and rebuffed. These policies include building of certain dams, cutting down of forests, and a policy of encouraging large families in the 1950s that presaged China's overpopulation in the latter half of the 20th century. Each time, Mao and his successors in the Communist Party encouraged policies inspired by nationalism and economic growth, but ignored common sense. Many of these policies were also driven by fear of the USSR and US.
The author writes the book in quite an objective tone, allowing her interviewee's comments to drive the book's opinion. The textual level is easy to understand, and appropriate reading for any college student. The book also comes with several dozen photographs taken of life in Communist China during Mao's time. The list of references is also quite impressive. All in all, this is a great book about China's modern history.
Descriptive, But Analysis Found Wanting May 1, 2007
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
In terms of the historiography of China's environmental policies during the Mao era this book is certainly an important work. Shapiro does a great job of laying out the general trends of the policies concerning the environment during the Mao years, and this general framework is nicely complemented by anecdotal evidence. The thesis of this work is that governments and policies that victimize people also tend to victimize the environment. That thesis is convincingly supported by Shapiro as the book documents how environmental destruction was particularly pronounced during the political reform movements that have become so notorious (the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution, etc.).
Unfortunately, this otherwise superb book has a major flaw for which I feel compelled to dock one star in my rating. Shapiro's final analysis concerning the changes needed in the future is simply weak. Throughout the book Shapiro criticized ideologies/philosophies that considered nature as something to be conquered. She also touches on how those ideologies/philosophies are often related to the modern world view of progress and materialism. I think she is absolutely correct in this part of her diagnosis.
Oddly, when it comes to her prescription Shapiro suggests what is essentially more of the same. She, of course, wouldn't see it that way, but she fails to refute the modern world view of progress and materialism. The answer, according to Shapiro, isn't a break from the ideology of progress but rather a progress that is tempered by the implementation of new technology and a sense of "humility". Well, humility would certainly help, but even a humility that at the end of the day still is primarily interested in material progress will end in the same types of environmental abuses that Shapiro is so sincerely concerned with.
The problem that Shapiro misses is that the modern world view is one which in which societies are driven by the notion that history is (or at least can) progress toward some sort form of utopian reality. In the case of China the utopian reality is socialism/communism, but I would argue the nonconservative vision of capitalism's role in enriching the world is basically of the same essence. The point here is that this view of history and reality is especially pronounced in modernity. The predominant world view before modern times in Western Civilization, for example, was the Augustinian world view that considered this world as simply "growing old" and "passing away". According to this view, the world has no directional history; eschatological fulfillment is only found in transcendent history (aka, salvation by God). For more on this, see Eric Voegelin, Modernity Without Restraint: The Political Religions, The New Science of Politics, and Science, Politics, and Gnosticism (Collected Works of Eric Voegelin, Volume 5).
In any case, this was a valuable read that should be seriously considered as an addition to any modern Chinese history course, especially those with a focus on Maoist policies. Shapiro is a good writer and her anecdotes are very interesting. Her thesis is solid and well supported, though I think her final analysis could have been stronger. Four stars for a solid book.
 Worth Every Penny September 11, 2003
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
As a foreigner living in China, I found Shapiro's book extremely helpful in understanding the culture of one-fifth of the world's population. Shapiro did an excellent job of choosing several major examples of Mao's destructive impact on the country of China and her people.
One is unable to help but to be enthralled in her book. She is thorough in her treatment of the examples she chose and is able to record the information in an easy-to-read manner.
I recommend this book to anyone who is at all interested in history, even if one is just a beginner. Your eyes will be opened to realize how destructive an individual can be when their one major concern is their own pride.
Fascinating August 25, 2001
14 out of 22 found this review helpful
This is an interesting book, and it is one that explores a theme that many ecologists and students of Asian anthropology have missed - namely the ecological destruction of Mao's China and the far reaching social consequences of this destruction. Judith Shapiro does an excellent job of documenting and exploring those aspects of government policy that wreaked absolute havoc on the environment in China under Mao's rule. This book is well written and well organized. What Judith Shapiro did not explore, and what I hoped she would - are the historical foundations of Mao's anthropocentric worldview - which are firmly rooted in Marxist ideology. In fact, ecological destruction in communist countries is commonplace - it stems from the inability of Marxist ideology to interpret the environment in anything other than purely exploitative, economic terms. Within this context, Mao's policies were not an aberration. I would have liked to see Judith Shapiro dig deeper into this realm.
|
|
|
This amazon.com affiliate Store Owned and Operated by Silkroad Retail Group
Accepted Payment Methods:
American Express, Diners Club, Discover, JCB, MasterCard, Eurocard, Visa, Visa Check Cards, Amazon.com gift certificates, payment directly from your bank account, and checks, money orders, or cashier's checks denominated in U.S. dollars and drawn on a U.S. bank, Borders Gift Cards and Waldenbooks Gift Cards as payment for qualifying orders. More information about Shipping & Handling, Delivery Date, Return Policy, Special Offers/Savings etc is available at the time of Secure CheckOut.
© 2006 ChindiaLounge.com All Rights Reserved | Powered by Silkroad Web
| |
