Event Details

WHAT: RASBJ online event — a discussion of"Why villages have drawn China's youth for more than a century: between urban and rural, between 'revolution' and 'modernization,' in the PRC and beyond", featuring speaker Dr. Linda Qian in conversation with moderator Prof. Yuezhi Zhao, followed by Q&A.


WHEN: May 24, 2023 Wednesday from 7:00-8:00 PM Beijing Time


MORE ABOUT THE EVENT: This talk chronicles a century of development since the establishment of the Chinese Communist Party through the movement of youth between town and country. From the founding of the Party in 1921 to its 100th anniversary in 2021, this talk frames the establishment, development, and "modernization" of what we know today as the PRC through an analysis of the Party-state's mobilization and encouragement of the country's youth in the "great rejuvenation" effort. From Li Dazhao's 1919 essay "Youth and the Countryside" to the rise of the "Return-Youth" movement under Xi Jinping, this talk focuses especially on the state's appeals to youth to "go to the countryside" – real or imagined, for better or for worse – throughout this era.

These varying top-down imperatives and bottom-up desires to "return" to the countryside are also brought into conversation with "back to the land movements" across global history. Material for this presentation is based on research conducted by both the speaker and moderator in the rural area of Heyang in Zhejiang province.


HOW MUCH: This online event is free for members of RASBJ; RMB 50 for members of partner RAS branches; and RMB 100 for non-members. Are you interested in becoming an RASBJ member? Please sign up at https://RASBJ.org/membership/​


HOW TO JOIN THE EVENT: Please click "Register" or "I Will Attend" and follow the instructions. After successful registration you'll receive a confirmation email with a link to join the event. If you seem not to have received it, please check your spam folder. Members of partner RAS branches: Please register at least 72 hours in advance to allow time for membership verification. You will receive several emails from RASBJ: one confirming receipt of your registration request, another requesting payment, and a third confirming your registration, with a link to join the event. Please check your spam folder to ensure you see all RASBJ emails. If you encounter difficulties paying with WeChat Pay, you may wish to try Alipay instead.

Speakers

  • Linda Qian (Speaker)

    Linda Qian

    Speaker

    Dr. Linda Qian is a Junior Research Fellow at Trinity College, Cambridge. Dr. Qian's primary area of expertise is contemporary mainland Chinese culture and society, and her research interests lie in the intersections of political economy and development anthropology. She takes a highly interdisciplinary approach to the study of "development" in contemporary mainland China, with a focus especially on the countryside and urban-rural relations. Dr. Qian received her PhD from the University of Oxford's School of Global and Area Studies in 2022, where she conducted extensive ethnographic research for her thesis, which is being revised for publication, on "homesickness" and "nostalgia" in an era of rural revitalisation, and the top-down and bottom-up imperatives and desires to symbolically or literally "return" to the real or imagined countryside. Prior to her doctoral studies, Dr. Qian was a post graduate research fellow at the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, a Vancouver-based think tank. Her research is partly based on her life experience in Jinyun, Zhejiang.

    view more
  • Yuezhi Zhao (Moderator)

    Yuezhi Zhao

    Moderator

    Yuezhi Zhao, a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and Professor Emeritus at Simon Fraser University, Canada, is Humanities Chair Professor at Tsinghua University and Executive Director of Heyang Institute for Rural Studies, China. The author of "Communication in China: Political Economy, Power and Conflict", Yuezhi Zhao has published widely in both English and Chinese on the role of communication and culture in China’s ongoing transformation. Her research is drawn from her life experience in Jinyun, Zhejiang.

    view more