Revolution in Rural Society: A Study of the Jiangbei Base Area (1924-1934)

Author: Chen Dejun
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Publishing Time: Not Available
Features: "Who are our enemies?" is the first question revolutionaries must confront. If there are no enemies, or if they are merely personal grudges of an individual, then there is no social or historical justification for revolution, and revolutionary organizations accordingly lose their opportunity and necessity for existence. How did the leaders of the Chinese rural revolution construct the concept of "enemies"? How did their confirmation of "enemies" differ from that of traditional rebels? The author explores this topic with the Jiangxi-Northern Revolutionary Base as the subject, which is renowned for its founder, Fang Zhi-min. The author employs the method of "thick description," which focuses on micro-action mechanisms, to meticulously analyze how revolutionaries gradually utilized, guided, transformed, and reconstructed the naive "enemy consciousness" formed by peasants in their daily lives to serve revolutionary goals. Additionally, the author raises profound questions and challenges to the mainstream research methods that are top-down, macro-level, and primarily focused on policy analysis and evaluation.