Table of Contents

1. Introduction: Literacy and Society in South China

2. Minban Schools and the Reaffirmation of Voluntarism in VillageEducation

3. The Contested Priorities of Early Post-Revolutionary MassEducation

4. The Problem of the Teachers

5. Collectivization and the Increased Importance of Literacy

6. The National Literacy Campaigns of 1956 and 1958

7. Beijing's Language Reform and Guangdong's Opposition

8. Literacy Expansion and Social Contraction: The AgriculturalMiddle School Experiment 1958-65

9. The Cultural Revolution

10. Literacy and Economic Development in the Post-Mao Era

11. The Struggle for Literacy in Guagndong Appendix: EducationalLevels in Guagndong by District, City, and County 1982

Bibliography

Notes

Index

About the Author

Glen Peterson is an assistant professor in theDepartment of History, University of British Columbia.

Reviews

... until now, [China's post-1949 literacy programs] have escaped the wide-ranging analysis which Peterson provides... Peterson offers a nuanced analysis of elite and vocational literacy in a social and political context... This book offers a readable, succinct, and broadly informed perspective ... . an important contribution to anyone interested in Chinese or Third World development.
*Pacific Affairs, volume 72:2, Summer 1999*

It is to the author's credit that he is able to weave his discussion of different issues ... into a coherent narrative that reinforces the importance of adding historical context to contemporary policy discussions. Furthermore, the primary source documentation that he has gathered from within Guangdong province is both significant and impressive. For all of these reasons, this volume is an important contribution to the field of Chinese education and should be of interest to historians, social scientists and comparative educators who work in this area.
*The China Quarterly*

... fine work ... this is a carefully researched and lucidly written discussion of an important topic in PRC history, It deserves to be read not only by students of education, but by anyone interested in the post-1949 social and mental transformation of the Chinese countryside.
*The China Journal, Issue 41*