Mobo Gao – författare

--Shows that the Mao era was benficial for most Chinese citizens--"A powerful mixture of political passion and original research, a brave polemic against the fashionable view on China. ... Aims a knockout blow at Jung Chang’s recent book on Mao, which Bush and the conservatives rave-reviewed." Gregor Benton, Professor of Chinese History, University of Cardiff"This important book opens a much needed window onto Chinese perceptions of the country's post-Mao direction. ... Highlights the renewal of popular support for socialism and the growing opposition to contemporary state policies."Martin Hart-Landsberg, Professor of Economics, Lewis & Clark College, Portland, OregonMao and his policies have long been demonised in the West, with the Cultural Revolution considered a fundamental violation of human rights. As China embraces capitalism, the Mao era is being surgically denigrated by the Chinese political and intellectual elite. This book tackles the extremely negative depiction of China under Mao in recent publications and argues most people in China, including the rural poor and the urban working class, actually benefited from Mao's policy of a comprehensive welfare system for the urban and basic health and education provision for the rural, which is being reversed in the current rush towards capitalism.By a critical analysis of the mainstream account of the Mao era and the Cultural Revolution and by revealing what is offered in the unofficial e-media debates this book sets the record straight, making a convincing argument for the positive effects of Mao's policies on the well-being of the Chinese people.

From fear and anxiety, to celebration, China's rise has provoked a variety of responses across the world. In light of this phenomenon, how are our understandings of China produced?From West to East, Mobo Gao interrogates knowledge production; rejecting the supposed objectivity of empirical statistics and challenging the assumption of a dichotomy between the Western liberal democracy and Chinese authoritarianism. By examining issues such as the Chinese Neo-Enlightenment and neoliberalism, national interest vested in Western scholarship, representations of the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution, and the South China Sea, the book asks: how is contemporary China constructed?By dissecting the political agenda and conceptual framework of commentators on China, Gao provocatively urges those not only on the Right, but also on the Left, to be self-critical of their views on Chinese politics, economics and history.

From fear and anxiety, to celebration, China's rise has provoked a variety of responses across the world. In light of this phenomenon, how are our understandings of China produced?From West to East, Mobo Gao interrogates knowledge production; rejecting the supposed objectivity of empirical statistics and challenging the assumption of a dichotomy between the Western liberal democracy and Chinese authoritarianism. By examining issues such as the Chinese Neo-Enlightenment and neoliberalism, national interest vested in Western scholarship, representations of the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution, and the South China Sea, the book asks: how is contemporary China constructed?By dissecting the political agenda and conceptual framework of commentators on China, Gao provocatively urges those not only on the Right, but also on the Left, to be self-critical of their views on Chinese politics, economics and history.

Mao Zedong och hans politik har länge demoniserats i Väst, speciellt kulturrevolutionen som har betecknats som ett radikalt övergrepp på mänskliga rättigheter. I och med att Kina har slagit in på den kapitalistiska vägen har Kinas nuvarande politiska och intellektuella elit också försökt svärta ner den maoistiska eran. Denna bok av Mobo Gao bemöter den extremt negativa beskrivningen av Kina under Mao Zedong och argumenterar för att de flesta människor i Kina, inklusive landsbygdens fattiga och städernas arbetarklass, faktiskt vann på Mao Zedongs politik. Denna innebar ett omfattande välfärdssystem i städerna och grundläggande hälsovård och utbildningsmöjligheter på landsbygden. Den nuvarande kapitalistiska utvecklingen har raserat denna grundtrygghet. Mobo Gao analyserar kritiskt de etablerade mediernas beskrivning av den maoistiska eran och kulturrevolutionen och redovisar också debatt som försiggått i icke-officiella sociala medier i Kina. Sammantaget argumenterar Mobo Gao på ett övertygande sätt för att Mao Zedongs politik hade positiva effekter för det kinesiska folkets välmåga. Mobo Gao är professor i kinesiska studier och direktör för Konfuciusinstitutet vid universitetet i Adelaide, Australien. Han har också författat Gao Village: A Portrait of Rural Life in Modern China (1999) och Mandarin Chinese: An Introduction (2000).

Despite our very different pasts, can we seek out a shared future together, a future that avoids a war, hot or cold, between a rising power of China and the incumbent US hegemon?

Despite our very different pasts, can we seek out a shared future together, a future that avoids a war, hot or cold, between a rising power of China and the incumbent US hegemon?