The party family : revolutionary attachments and the gendered origins of state power in China

__The Party Family__ explores the formation and consolidation of the state in revolutionary China through the crucial role that personal connections—specifically family ties—played in the state's capacity to respond to crisis before and after the foundation of the People's Republic of China. Central to these ties, Kimberley Ens Manning finds, were women as both the subjects and leaders of reform. Drawing on interviews with 163 participants in in the provinces of Henan and Jiangsu, as well as government documents and elite memoirs, biographies, speeches, and reports, Manning offers a new theoretical lens—attachment politics—to underscore how family and ideology intertwined to create an important building block of state capacity and governance. As __The Party Family__ details, infant mortality in China dropped by more than half within a decade of the PRC's foundation, a policy achievement produced to a large extent through the personal and family ties of the maternalist policy coalition that led the reform movement. However, these achievements were undermined or reversed in the complex policy struggles over the family during Mao's Great Leap Forward (1958–1960).

The Party Family explores theformation and consolidation of the state in revolutionary Chinathrough the crucial role that social ties-specifically familyties-played in the state's capacity to respond to crisis before andafter the foundation of the People's Republic of China.Central to these ties, Kimberley Ens Manning finds, were women asboth the subjects and leaders of reform. Drawing on interviews with163 participants in in the provinces of Henan and Jiangsu, as wellas government documents and elite memoirs, biographies, speeches,and reports, Manning offers a new theoretical lens-attachmentpolitics-to underscore how family and ideology intertwined tocreate an important building block of state capacity andgovernance.

As The Party Family details, infant mortality in Chinadropped by more than half within a decade of the PRC's foundation,a policy achievement produced to a large extent through thepersonal and family ties of the maternalist policy coalition thatled the reform movement. However, these achievements wereundermined or reversed in the complex policy struggles over thefamily during Mao's Great Leap Forward (1958-60).

The Party Family explores the formation and consolidation of the state in revolutionary China through the crucial role that social ties—specifically family ties—played in the state's capacity to respond to crisis before and after the foundation of the People's Republic of China. Central to these ties, Kimberley Ens Manning finds, were women as both the subjects and leaders of reform. Drawing on interviews with 163 participants in the provinces of Henan and Jiangsu, as well as government documents and elite memoirs, biographies, speeches, and reports, Manning offers a new theoretical lens—attachment politics—to underscore how family and ideology intertwined to create an important building block of state capacity and governance. As The Party Family details, infant mortality in China dropped by more than half within a decade of the PRC's foundation, a policy achievement produced to a large extent through the personal and family ties of the maternalist policy coalition that led the reform movement. However, these achievements were undermined or reversed in the complex policy struggles over the family during Mao's Great Leap Forward (1958–60). Contents 7 Preface 9 List of Abbreviations 17 Editorial Notes 19 Major Historical Events 21 Map of China 23 Introduction: Family Ties as Political Attachments 27 Part I. States of Activism 57 1. The May Fourth Movement 57 2. The Chongqing Coalition 77 3. The Long March to Yan’an 100 4. Land Reform 125 Part II. State Capacity and Contention 157 5. Maternal Bodies 157 6. Filial Brides 182 7. Household Managers 205 8. Shock Troops 231 9. Leaders 263 Conclusion: The Attached Politics of State Capacity and Contention 292 Appendix 1. Glossary 307 Appendix 2. Individuals Interviewed 319 Appendix 3. Research Methods and Sources 325 Notes 331 Works Cited 359 Index 395 "Drawing on interviews in rural Henan and Jiangsu, county archival documents, and elite memoirs, biographies, speeches, and reports this book argues that personal ties played a central role in the state's capacity to respond to crisis before and after the foundation of the People's Republic of China"-- Provided by publisher