Workshop “How to write a People’s History of Maoist China”

Workshop “How to write a People’s History of Maoist China”
(Vienna October 5-7 2012)
Friday October 5, 6-8 pm
The Karl-Renner-Institute and the Institute for East Asian Studies/Sinology of the University of Vienna
invite you to a
Panel discussion
BEYOND GREAT LEADERS:
HOW TO WRITE THE HISTORY OF ORDINARY PEOPLE?
Venue
Karl-Renner-Institut, Europasaal - Hotel 2
entrance: Gartenhotel Altmannsdorf
Hoffingergasse 33, 1120 Wien
(public transport: U6, Station "Am Schöpfwerk")
Panelists
NEIL DIAMANT
Associate Professor of Asian Law and Society, Dickinson College, USA
ROBERT FOLTIN
Author, Vienna
ANDREA KOMLOSY
Social Scientist, University of Vienna
PATRICIA M. THORNTON
Political Scientist, University of Oxford
Moderator
FELIX WEMHEUER
Sinologist, University of Vienna
Contents
“The young Alexander conquered India. Was he alone?/ Caesar beat the Gauls. Did he not have even a
cook with him?/ Philip of Spain wept when his armada went down. Was he the only one to weep?”
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(Brecht/“Questions from a Worker who Reads”).
Even today, popular science and mainstream historians focus rather on “great leaders” than on the
experiences of ordinary people such as peasants, workers, maids, foot soldiers, migrants or ethnic
minorities. We like to discuss the question of how can we discover the “voice of the voicelessness” in
historical accounts and archives. How can we write national or global history that is focused on ordinary
people and not on political elites? Are categories such as “class” or “the people” useful? Scholars who are
specialized on Maoist China, Global and Austrian history will compare the experiences and the role of
ordinary people in the historical development of their countries.
8 pm reception at the Renner Institute
Saturday October 6
Workshop, Place: University of Vienna, Campus, Spitalgasse 2, 1090 Vienna, Courtyard 2, Sinology,
Room: Sin 1
10.00 Welcome and Introduction to the Project
Panel One: Is People’s History Possible? Narratives and Categories (Chair: Agnes SchickChen, University of Vienna)
10.15-10.35 Felix Wemheuer (University of Vienna): How to Write a People’s History of Maoist China:
A Thought Experiment
10.35-11.00 Susanne Weigelin-Schwiedrzik (University of Vienna): Comment on the Challenges
11.00-11.30 Discussion
11.30-11.45 Coffee Break
Panel Two: Is People’s History Possible? Research Methods, Sources and Language (Chair:
Lena Springer, University of Vienna)
11.45-12.05 Neil J. Diamant (Dickinson College): Is a People's History Possible in an Authoritarian State?
12.05-12.25 Sascha Klotzbücher (University of Vienna): Beyond “Data Grabbing“: Is Participative
Research on Chinese Modern History Necessary and Possible?
12.25-12.55 Discussion
13.00-14.00 Lunch Break
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Panel Three “People’s Cultural Revolution” (Chair: Jiagu Richter, University of Vienna)
14.00-14.20 Patricia M. Thornton (Oxford University): “Learning how to Swim by Swimming”: The
Possibilities, Contradictions, and Dangers of the People’s Cultural Revolution
14.20-14.40 Yiching Wu (University of Toronto): The “Great Retreat” and Its Discontent: Reexamining
the Shengwulian Episode in the Cultural Revolution
14.40-15.10 Discussion
15.10-15.20 Break
Panel Four: Creating the Maoist Self: Diaries, Confessions Letters and Memory (Chair:
Felix Wemheuer, University of Vienna)
15.20-15.40 Jacob Eyferth (University of Chicago): Writing the Self in Maoist China
15.40-16.00 Daniel Leese (Freiburg University): Confessions of a Rebel: Narratives and History in Flux at
Beijing Capital Steel Factory
16.00-16.20 Hauke Neddermann (FU Berlin): Yesterday’s Tomorrows:
Understanding the Mao Era through Past Visions of the Future
16.20-17.00 Discussion
18.00-20.00 Dinner
Sunday, October 7
Workshop, Place: University of Vienna, Campus, Spitalgasse 2, Courtyard 2, Sinology, Room: Sin 1
Panel Five: Local People and Local Practices
10.00-10.20 Brian James DeMare (Tulane University): The Perils of “Peasant Culture”: Investigating
Village Drama in the PRC
10.20-10.40 Lena Springer (University of Vienna): Practitioners and Substances behind the Myth of
Maoist Medicines
10.40-11.00 Hou Xiaojia (University of Colorado–Denver): Agents between People and Elite Politics:
Seeing Mao’s China through Narratives of Government Cadres of Intermediate Rank
11.00-11.45 Discussion
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11.45-13.00 Lunch Break
13.00-14.00 Closing Discussion (Chair: Felix Wemheuer)
What did we learn? Are there new questions? How do we continue with the project? Who will write
the book?
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