The Healthy Socialist Life in Maoist China, 1949-1980

This book explores the growing importance of individual well-being for collective health in socialist China and the limitations this brought on the authorities. It demonstrates how biomedical knowledge was ingrained in the readership through contemporary popular media discourse, and how the party-state encouraged and accommodated healthy behavior to foster a strong population.

Format: Hardback
Length: 260 pages
Publication date: 15 October 2022
Publisher: Lexington Books

This book explores the growing significance of individual well-being for collective health in socialist China, highlighting the limitations imposed on the authorities by this shift. By engaging with contemporary popular media discourse, including handbooks and magazine articles on health and health practices, the book demonstrates how biomedical knowledge was seamlessly integrated into the readership. It sheds light on the intricate path to health propagated by state media for the Chinese population, creating a space for discussing the body's relationship with production and the personal experiences of daily life.

The party-state actively encouraged and accommodated healthy behaviors in the fields of nutrition, exercise, and rest to foster a robust population in the aftermath of the establishment of the New China. Three case studies illustrate the network of social groups, institutions, and experts involved in the production and implementation of health knowledge, as well as the enduring continuity of health discourse. Through a comprehensive examination of these three pillars of health and the emerging debate on civilization diseases, this book unveils the often-overlooked boundaries of state control over human bodies.

Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781793654557