Watch a remarkably informative, comprehensive, and politically pertinent conversation hosted by The People’s Forum about 1804 Books’ newest title, China’s Revolution and the Quest for a Socialist Future, with author Ken Hammond. Long the most prosperous and sophisticated country in the world, China was subjected to the military, economic, and political domination of Western imperialism for over a hundred years.
Hammond’s book traces the crisis of Old China and revolutionary struggle up to 1949, the development of New China with Mao Zedong, reform under Deng Xiaoping, and the beginning of a new era led by Xi Jinping. China has generated contradictions as well as dramatic growth in education, health care, and other social services. But the process of socialist construction remains an unfinished and ongoing venture, and the future of the revolution is very much a work in progress.
Watch now!
You can purchase a copy of the book, which also includes an introduction by Brian Becker and an afterword by Eugene Puryear, here.
About the speakers
Ken Hammond is Professor of East Asian and Global History at New Mexico State University. He has been engaged in radical politics since his involvement in the anti-war movement at Kent State in 1968-70, is a member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, and an activist with Pivot to Peace. Dr. Hammond has written several articles for Liberation School, including an assessment of the Chinese Communist Party’s 100th anniversary and an overview of Karl Marx’s writings on Asia. You can also listen to The Socialist Program’s seven-part podcast series on China’s foreign policy with Dr. Hammond on Liberation School.
Sheila Xiao is a community organizer. She is a leader of the Los Angeles chapter of the ANSWER Coalition and the co-founder of the peace organization Pivot to Peace. She was a co-coordinator of the People’s Summit for Democracy. Together with Rachel Hu, Xiao taught a class on “The legacy of Asian American Struggle,” which you can watch on Liberation School here.
