About the Talk
Robin Radin will present his groundbreaking work: Mao's Hijacked Generation, examining one of Mao Zedong's most far-reaching social campaigns. Based on his collaboration with a leading Chinese scholar, this compelling book reveals how the forced relocation of eighteen million urban youth to remote rural and border regions of China for "rustication" or peasant work instead of continuing formal education transformed a generation and continues to influence Chinese society today.
The Zhiqing Movement or the Sent-Down Youth / Zhiqing movement (“上山下乡 / 知青")is one of history's largest yet least-known forced migrations (1962-1979) of almost eighteen million urban teenagers. This significant educational disruption of a generation "deeply affected the way Chinese people think and behave today" according to Chinese artist Ai Weiwei.
Cost: Free
Book: Robin Radin - Mao's Hijacked Generation
Location: JF Books 1509 Connecticut Avenue Northwest Washington, DC 20036 (202) 670-4060 https://www.jfbooks.org