Uses of Mao today
毛澤東在當代中國的意義和用途

Thursday, 14 June 2012 09:00 – 18:00
Venue: Academic Building 1 Room LT-14, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon Tong
2012年6月14日 上午九時至下午午六時
香港城市大學教學大樓LT-14演講廳，九龍塘達之路

Friday, 15 June 2012 09:00 – 18:00
Venue: Council Chamber SWT501, Shaw Tower, Shaw Campus, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong
2012年6月15日 上午九時至下午午六時　
香港浸會大學逸夫校園逸夫行政樓五樓SWT501會議廳， 九龍塘

Organizers:

Jean-Pierre Cabestan, Baptist University of Hong Kong
Joseph Cheng Yu-shek, City University of Hong Kong
Sebastian Veg, French Centre for Research on Contemporary China

舉辦人：

高敬文教授，香港浸會大學
鄭宇碩教授，香港城市大學
魏簡博士，法國現代中國研究中心

Date & Time:

Thursday 14 June 09:00 – 18:00, City University of Hong Kong
Friday 15 June 09:00 – 18:00, Baptist University of Hong Kong

地點時間：

2012年6月14日上午九時至下午午六時,香港城市大學
2012年6月15日上午九時至下午午六時,香港浸會大學

Languages:

English and Mandarin
(translation to be arranged in the room upon request)

語言：

英語及國語演講，需要當場翻譯請提前與組織者聯繫。

Argument

As the 18th Party Congress approaches, much discussion has focused on the purported “red revival” spurred by Bo Xilai’s campaign of chang hong da hei or “Praise the Red and crack down on the Black” in Chongqing, a policy of tough measures on crime, accompanied by propaganda steeped in Mao-era references.

While some dismiss its significance as pure political strategy, the lifting of the Mao-taboo in Chinese politics seems to have unleashed a wide scope of related debates, ranging from the critique of China’s present unequal growth and the role of the state in the economy to a reevaluation of the Cultural Revolution and the role of ideology today.

As the Party prepares for the leadership transition of 2012, one cannot help noting that it once again seems to be staging its divisions over personalities in ideological terms, a fact all the more interesting as the incoming leadership generation received its political education during the Cultural Revolution.

This conference will attempt to analyze the underlying forces involved in the battle over the uses of Mao today in order to better understand the place of Mao today and the meaning of the reference to Maoism in the contemporary political, social, and intellectual debate.

The following topics may be discussed:
– Mao in the Economic and Social policy debate
– The Chongqing Experiment: Bo Xilai and the uses of Maoism on the political scene
– Maoism in the intellectual debate: liberal and New Left critiques of Maoism
– The Mao Generation: the educated youth in power after the 18th Congress
– Mao in Chinese historiography and official discourse
– Red culture: nostalgia and critique of Mao in literature, film, art.

議題：

中共十八大即將舉行，傳媒與學術界的討論焦點不約而同地集中在薄熙來的倒台及其“重慶模式”的功過。薄熙來的唱紅打黑除了以強硬手法打擊貪污犯罪，也恢復引用大量毛澤東時期的宣傳手段。

一些評論者認為”唱紅打黑”只是政治手段，但隨著中國政治對”毛澤東禁忌”的逐漸移除，社會內的確出現一系列對國內不平衡的經濟發展、政府在經濟中所扮演的角色的批判，以至對文化大革命的反思、對意識形態在當今政治環境中的角色的重新思考。

值得注意的是，在中共準備2012年領導班子換班之時，黨內領導層分歧再次以意識形態的形式出現。預備接班的新領導人正正是在文化大革命時期接受過當時政治教育。

是次學術研討會議將嘗試分析對毛的運用背後的權力角力，以便更好地理解毛澤東當前的地位及在當今政治、社會、學術討論中引用毛澤東思想或毛主義的意義。

討論題目包括：
1）重慶實驗：薄熙來及毛主義在政治討論的用途
2）毛主義及學術討論：自由學派和新左派對毛澤東思想的批判
3）毛澤東的一代：於毛澤東時期受知情教育的十八大領導班子
4）中國史學及官方話語裡的毛澤東
5）紅色文化：文學、電影、藝術對毛澤東的懷舊與批判

Please click here to dowload the updated program.
請點擊這裡下載已更新程序表。

 Please click here to listen to the conference. 

Part 1 – June 14 Conference

Introduction   – Sebastian Veg (CEFC)

– Joseph Cheng (City U)

– Jean-Pierre Cabestan (Baptist U)

Panel 1. Politics and economic policy. Chaired by John Burns (HKU)

1/ Jean-Francois Huchet (INALCO) – From Mao to Hu. The Politics of Economic Reform

2/ Joseph Cheng (City U) – Neo-Maoism, What Does it Mean for China Today?

3/ Q&A

Part 2 – June 14 Conference

1/ Ching Cheong (Straits Times) – Mao continues to haunt China

2/ Q&A

Part 3 – June 14 Conference

Panel 2. The weight of History, chaired by Kam Louie (HKU)

1/ Arif Dirlik (Eugene, Oregon) – Mao in Chinese official discourse

2/ Michel Bonnin (EHESS) – The Mao generation: Xi Jinping and the educated youth in power

3/ Xu Ben (St Mary’s California) – Repackaging Mao in Times of Legitimacy Uncertainty

4/ Q&A

Part 1 – June 15 Conference

Panel 4. Adapting Mao in different contexts. Chaired by Kuan Hsin Chi (CUHK)

1/ Willy Lam (Akita University, Japan) – The Maoist Revival and the Conservative Turn in Chinese Politics

2/ Jean-Philippe Béja (CEFC Beijing) – Business, Protest, Repression: the eclectic uses of Mao in Contemporary China

3/ Q&A

4/ Emilie Tran, Eric Sautedé and Grégoire Muller (University of St Joseph, Macao) – In the Red 2.0: Online Reactivation of Maoist Mobilization Methods and Propaganda

5/ Q&A