勝利的困境

by Jeremy Brown, 周傑榮

中華人民共和國建國初期，是一個既充滿了希望與熱情、又充斥着恐懼與疑慮的階段，與其後政治運動接踵而來的時段相比，共和國的最初幾年，又是一個容易為人忽視的時期。這本論文集關注的焦點，正是1949–1953 年新政權這段早期的歷史。全書共分四個部分：第一部分“城市接管”，關注新政權對城市的接管過程與策略；第二部分“佔領外圍”，討論中共對西藏、新疆、大連等地的佔領過程；第三部分“適應環境變遷的文化”，探討文化工作者對新政權的反應與調適；第四部分“家族策略”，觀察幾個家族在新政權的命運變遷。

以往的研究主要關注共產黨的政策是怎樣被制定和執行的，而本書則主要關注這些政策是怎樣為人們所感受的。不同於其他研究精英政治和決策過程的著作，本書更加關注不同背景的人在與政權互動的過程中發生了什麼，關注新政權的建立怎樣影響和改變了普通人的工作與生活，這些人包括工廠主、電影工作者、少數民族群體、相聲演員、接生婆、人類學家……本文集的作者既有魏斐德、斐宜理、周錫瑞、畢克偉、陳兼等中國研究領域內的知名學者，也有周傑榮和何凱思這樣的學術新秀。他們出色的論文展現了建國史異乎尋常的多樣性與複雜性。

Genres: China, History, Nonfiction

424 pages

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Jeremy Brown (Chinese: 周傑榮) works as a professor in the Department of History at Simon Fraser University on the unceded, ancestral, traditional territory of the Tsleil-Waututh, Kwikwetlem, Squamish, and Musqueam peoples. His research focuses on the social history of the People’s Republic of China. From 2014 through 2021, Brown was part of a team of editors of Cambridge Studies in the History of the People’s Republic of China, a book series published by Cambridge University Press. He served as a board member on the Esherick-Ye Family Foundation between 2016 and 2021, and Brown is a member of the Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme Selection Panel, 2017–2022, 2024–. He is a member of the PRC History Group Advisory Board.

Brown loves to run and enjoys racing, especially in middle-distance (800/1500/mile) and cross-country races; He ran one marathon during each of his three years as department chair.

Reviews

[Naked Fish · Rating 4 out of 5]

The framework is less thought-provoking than that of the grassroots volume, but the quality of chapters is better. The volume has set the tone for current work on early PRC (continuity, power consolidation, and state-building), but who knows whether another explanatory framework will pop out after ten years?

[versarbre · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very nice collection of high-quality articles. I read the Chinese translation, which is fantastic too.

The following two chapters are especially illuminating.

Gao, J.Z., 2010. 8. The Call of the Oases: The “Peaceful Liberation” of Xinjiang, 1949–53 (pp. 184-204). Harvard University Press.

Sherman Cochran Cochran, S., 2010. 15. Capitalists Choosing Communist China: The Liu Family of Shanghai, 1948–56 (pp. 359-386). Harvard University Press.

[DONGZHE · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book in Chinese translation which is pressed by the Chinese university Press. I have not found the Chinese version in goodread.

[天上大风 · Rating 5 out of 5]

接管是逐渐的过程，电影业的覆灭足以作为预警。当润则润。