As the 18th Party Congress approaches, much discussion has focused on a purported "red revival." 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 analyze the underlying forces involved in the battle over the uses of Mao in order to better understand the place of Mao and the reference to Maoism in the political, social, and intellectual debate today.
Programme
Thursday 14 June
City University of HK Academic Building 1, Room LT-14 9:00 Opening
9:30-12:30 Panel 1. Politics and economic policy 政治及經濟政策 Chair: John Burns (HKU)
Russell Leigh Moses (The Beijing Center), Back and Forth to the Future: Uses of Maoism in the Ascent and Takedown of Bo Xilai
Jean-François Huchet (INALCO), From Mao to Hu, the Politics of Economic Reforms
10:45-11:00 Coffee Break
Joseph Cheng (City U): Neo-Maoism: What Does it Mean for China Today?
Ching Cheong (Straits Times): Mao continues to haunt China
13:00 Lunch for participants: City U Restaurant
15:00-18:00 Panel 2. The weight of History 歷史的重擔 Chair: Kam Louie (HKU)
Arif Dirlik (Eugene, Oregon), Mao in Chinese historiography and official discourse
Michel Bonnin (EHESS), The Mao Generation: Xi Jinping and the educated youth in power
Coffee Break
Xu Ben (St Mary's California): Repackaging Mao in Times of Legitimacy Uncertainty
Dinner: Free
Friday 15 June
Hong Kong Baptist University Council Chamber (SWT 501), Shaw Tower Shaw Campus, Kowloon Tong
9:30-12:30 Panel 3. Mao in the Intellectual and Cultural Debate 毛在知識份子、文化討論當中 Chair: Jean-Pierre Cabestan (Baptist U)
Geremie Barmé (ANU), Red Allure and the Crimson Blindfold
Sebastian Veg (CEFC), Propaganda and pastiche: Mao on screen in Founding of a Republic, Beginning of the Great Revival and Let the Bullets Fly
10:45-11:00 Coffee Break
Torbjorn Lodén (City U), New Maoism and the Quest for Democracy in China
Hung Ching Tin (Chairman of Centre of Hongkongology): Maoism and Chineseness: Hong Kong and China's Modernization
13:00 Lunch for participants: Baptist U Restaurant
15:00-18:00 Panel 4. Adapting Mao in different contexts 毛在不同情況的重新包裝 Chair: Kuan Hsin Chi (CUHK)
Willy Lam (Akita International University, Japan): The Maoist Revival and the Conservative Turn in Chinese Politics
Jean-Philippe Béja (CEFC Beijing): Business, Protest, Repression : the eclectic uses of Mao in Contemporary China
Coffee Break
Emilie Tran, Grégoire Muller (University of Saint Joseph, Macao), In The Red 2.0: OnlineReactivation of Maoist Mobilization Methods and Propaganda
