Crossing the Iron Curtain

Western Students in Mao's China (1949-1976)
1. Auflage 2025
ISBN: 978-3-11-914744-6
Verlag: De Gruyter

Buch, Englisch, 280 Seiten, Format (B × H): 159 mm x 235 mm, Gewicht: 498 g

Reihe: Rethinking the Cold War

During the Cold War, an invisible “iron curtain” divided the Western world from Maoist China. What motives lay behind the façade of educational exchange? This book explores the experiences of Western students in China from 1949 to 1976, revealing how education functioned as a strategic tool of people’s diplomacy. Through an analysis of the PRC’s educational policies, tailored curricula, and student memoirs, it reconstructs the landscape of studying in Maoist China. The study shows how the Chinese state sought to shape Western students’ understandings and attitudes through an education grounded in proletarian politics, a curriculum combining open-door schooling with productive labor, and a management system that differentiated between insiders and outsiders. It also examines how these strategies shaped Western students’ perceptions and influenced their retrospective reflections. Offering a fresh perspective on Sino-Western encounters, this book demonstrates how state-led diplomacy was intertwined with personal, unofficial interactions through education. These connections enriched the state-centric narrative of Cold War diplomacy, serving as reference for scholars of public diplomacy, international relations, and educational exchange.

Zielgruppe

Researchers, Postgraduates

Autoren/Hrsg.

Xing, Longfei

Fachgebiete

• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften Interdisziplinär Regionalwissenschaften, Regionalstudien
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Asiatische Geschichte
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Internationale Beziehungen Ost-West Beziehungen

Über Autor(innen)

Longfei Xing , Institute of East Asian Studies, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.