I had not been following this lengthy thread on Pomeranz.
Michael Pugliese, Better Mao Than Never...
----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael Perelman" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Thursday, May 10, 2001 11:40 AM
Subject: [PEN-L:11356] Re: Re: Land Productivity
> Michael, I don't know what your point is. I hope that you are not
> starting a good Mao/bad Mao debate.
>
> I recall that when mainstream Western agricultural types first visited
> China after the Nixon visit, they were astounded by the way the Chinese
> were able to feed so many people on such poor land.
>
> On the other hand, China, like the U.S., displayed little awareness of
> some environmental problems. They used too many pesticides and dammed too
> many rivers. They also cut down too much wood.
>
>
> On Thu, May 10, 2001 at 10:33:34AM -0700, Michael Pugliese wrote:
> > http://www.cup.org/
> > Mao's War Against Nature
> > Politics and the Environment in Revolutionary China
> >
> > Shapiro, Judith
> >
> > In clear and compelling prose, Judith Shapiro relates the great, untold
> > story of the devastating impact of Chinese politics on China's
environment
> > during the Mao years. Maoist China provides an example of extreme human
> > interference in the natural world in an era in which human relationships
> > were also unusually distorted.
> >
> > Under Mao, the traditional Chinese ideal of "harmony between heaven and
> > humans" was abrogated in favor of Mao's insistence that "Man Must
Conquer
> > Nature." Mao and the Chinese Communist Party's "war" to bend the
physical
> > world to human will often had disastrous consequences both for human
beings
> > and the natural environment. Mao's War Against Nature argues that the
abuse
> > of people and the abuse of nature are often linked. Shapiro's account,
told
> > in part through the voices of average Chinese citizens and officials who
> > lived through and participated in some of the destructive campaigns, is
both
> > eye-opening and heartbreaking.
> >
> > Judith Shapiro teaches environmental politics at American University in
> > Washington, DC. She is co-author, with Liang Heng, of several well known
> > books on China, including Son of the Revolution (Random House, 1984) and
> > After the Nightmare (Knopf, 1986). She was one of the first Americans to
> > work in China after the normalization of U.S.-China relations in 1979.
> >
> > SERIES NAME:
> > Studies in Environment and History
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Ricardo Duchesne" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > Sent: Thursday, May 10, 2001 7:58 AM
> > Subject: [PEN-L:11338] Land Productivity
> >
> >
> > > While P questions the western model of developmet, he still seeks
> > > to convince us that the Chinese model achieved the "highest
> > > agricultural yields in the world" due to their efficient land-saving
> > > practices. That they were as efficient, as rational, as developed, as
> > > powerful as the westerners. This is called "polycentrism" in world
> > > history. Never mind the "poly", if you can show that either China,
> > > Japan, or India were as advanced as Europe, then you're ready to
> > > join the multicultural crowd and sing "We are the World". What
> > > about the Africans? Well......Nubia, yes, that's right, it has a nice
> > > ring to it. But that's way back, isn't that Black Athena? That too
> > > should be included, and later there's the Songhay empire of West
> > > Africa, the largest state of modern Africa, including the Oyo Empire
> > > in Nigeria, Nupe, Igala, and Benin in the lower Niger valley, or the
> > > Hausa states of Northern Nigeria, and Kongo in central Africa.
> > > Other ethnic groups? Oh yes, there others like the Jahaanke of the
> > > Gambia-River Niger region; the Juula of northern Ghana, Cote
> > > d'Ivoire, and Upper Niger River; the Wolof of Senegal; and the Awka
> > > and Aro of Iboland in Nigeria - they were also powerful and wealthy;
> > > they were the ethnic groups that facilitated and controlled the slave
> > > trade. We are all equal.
> > >
> > > A challenge to the western model this is not.
> > >
> >
>
> --
> Michael Perelman
> Economics Department
> California State University
> Chico, CA 95929
>
> Tel. 530-898-5321
> E-Mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
