History of the People’s Republic of China in the Early 1950s
Co-ordinator, Jonathan Howlett, University of York
Partner: East China Normal University
This network explores China’s domestic and international history, with a focus on the early 1950s. This is a field of increasing international attention, fuelled by unprecedented access to Chinese archival sources and interaction with Chinese scholars. The developments in this field over the last decade provide an exciting context for the development of closer relations between scholars from diverse backgrounds as they seek to understand this complex period of transition.
The network brings together scholars from a growing international field. It enhances developments from BICC 1, notably the ‘China in Transition’ workshop, organised by Jonathan Howlett and Amy King (Oxford/ANU) at the University of Bristol in October 2011, and Howlett’s involvement in Columbia University’s May 2011 workshop on ‘The Transnational ‘50s: New Perspectives on the Early PRC and the Outside World.’
So far, the network has funded participation in a very well received panel at the September 2012 British Association for Chinese Studies annual conference at Wadham College, Oxford. The next event will be a larger scale conference the University of York in July 2013 that will involve early career and established scholars. One of the goals of this conference will be to create the foundations of a focused network of scholars working on this period in the long term.
Future Events:
‘China in Transition: New Perspectives on the Chinese 1950s’, 19-21 July 2013: University of York. Please click on the link for more information.
Past Events:
Panel at BACS Annual Conference 2012: New Perspectives on the Early 1950s
Chair/Discussant: Henrietta Harrison (University of Oxford)
Panelists:
Jonathan Howlett (University of York), ‘Transforming Shanghai: the CCP and its urban challenges in the early years of the PRC.’
Jennifer Altehenger (King’s College London), ‘Learning to Read Law Along Party Lines: Legal Education Propaganda in the Early PRC.’
Amy King (University of Oxford), ‘Reconstructing China: Japanese Technicians in the Early Years of the PRC.’