China after the Sino-Soviet split

Abstract

This dissertation examines the global dimensions of politics and culture in the People's Republic of China (PRC) from 1962 to 1972. Beginning in 1962, the PRC articulated a socialist modernity that positioned Chinese politics as a model for revolutionary struggle around the world. The CCP used global symbols and global events to shape this new socialist modernity and to inform everyday politics. Global symbols were conveyed through rhetoric, propaganda, political speeches, mass meetings, rallies, and Chinese and student newspapers. The Chinese Communist Party furthermore assiduously recorded every anecdote, testimonial, or story that supposedly demonstrated China's importance around the world. These stories were then archived and used as irrefutable evidence of the PRC's global significance. Global symbols also became political currency during this period, and were used to exert power and claim legitimacy. This is especially true during the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. Chinese students, who formed into Red Guard units, claimed that global radicalism flowed from the Cultural Revolution. African liberation movements, the French student movement, and the war in Vietnam were all positioned as offshoots of the Cultural Revolution. Mass campaigns like the Cultural Revolution were therefore imbued with international significance, which raised the stakes for their success and contributed to their chaos.