• Covell Meyskens. “Third Front Railroads and Industrial Modernity in Late Maoist China.” Twentieth Century China (fall 2015) .

    Author(s):
    Covell Meyskens (see profile)
    Date:
    2020
    Subject(s):
    China, Twentieth century, Twenty-first century, Cold War (1945-1989), Communism, Economics, Social history
    Item Type:
    Article
    Tag(s):
    China, modern (post-1911), Cold War, Political economy
    Permanent URL:
    http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/ydvj-sd27
    Abstract:
    In the late 1960s, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) became concerned that the United States or the Soviet Union might invade. To protect national sovereignty, the Party carried out a massive campaign to industrialize China's West called the Third Front. This article focuses on Third Front railway building. It shows that, although Third Front railroads initially had problems, they eventually integrated large parts of western China into nationwide industrial networks, which accelerated and standardized regional transportation. To build railroads, the CCP compensated for the country's shortage of industrial capital with massive inputs of labor. This industrialization strategy placed a heavy burden on rural men. To boost morale, the CCP organized thought campaigns that praised hard work as a revolutionary contribution to China's industrialization and defense. This collective narrative of national security and industrial progress never entirely silenced discontent, but it did provide workers with a way to think about hardship.
    Metadata:
    xml
    Published as:
    Journal article     Show details
    Pub. DOI:
    https://doi.org/10.1179/1521538515Z.00000000068
    Journal:
    Twentieth-Century China
    Page Range:
    238 - 260
    Status:
    Published
    Last Updated:
    4 years ago
    License:
    All Rights Reserved
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