Background
The Great Leap Forward was an ambitious economic and social reform initiative launched by the Chinese Communist Party under the leadership of Mao Zedong. This plan, which lasted from 1958 to 1960, aimed to rapidly propel Mainland China from a primarily agrarian society to a modern industrialized economy.
Historical Context
The Great Leap Forward followed the collectivization reforms already underway and sought to accelerate China’s development through mass mobilization of labor and communal living. The initiative was part of the larger ideological push towards a fully realized communist society, emphasizing self-sufficiency and equality.
Definitions and Concepts
The Great Leap Forward is characterized by its focus on rapid industrial and agricultural advancement. Key elements included:
- Communal Farming: The reorganization of traditional farming into large, state-controlled communes to boost agricultural output.
- Backyard Furnaces: A campaign encouraging rural populations to set up small-scale steel furnaces, aiming to significantly increase steel production.
- Mass Mobilization: Extensive efforts to engage the entire population in industrial and infrastructural projects.
Major Analytical Frameworks
Classical Economics
Conventional classical economic paradigms primarily focus on market-driven development. The state-driven approach of the Great Leap Forward contrasts sharply with classical economic theories, making it a poor fit within this framework.
Neoclassical Economics
Neoclassical analysis would emphasize inefficiencies stemming from central planning and the absence of market incentives, ultimately leading to misallocations and productivity losses seen during the Great Leap Forward.
Keynesian Economy
While Keynesian economics champions state intervention, the focus is on stabilizing and stimulating an economy using fiscal policies rather than the top-down structural transformations as seen in the Great Leap Forward.
Marxian Economics
Drawing from Marxian theory, the Great Leap Forward can be seen as a practical attempt to transition from feudal remnants of agriculture into a proletariat-based industrial society, albeit one that fell prey to mismanagement and practical shortcomings.
Institutional Economics
Institutional economists would likely attribute the failures of the Great Leap Forward to inadequate institutions, lack of proper incentives, and flawed governance which led to severe economic disruptions and social suffering.
Behavioral Economics
Behavioral economists might study the Great Leap Forward’s failure through the lenses of human psychology, focusing on how individual and collective behaviors responded adversely to the enforced collectivization.
Post-Keynesian Economics
Attention to the disequilibria created by the Great Leap Forward would interest post-Keynesian economists, particularly in how grassroots-level destabilization inflicted long-term economic distortions.
Austrian Economics
The Austrian school would critique the Great Leap Forward for its central planning and coercive economic structures, emphasizing the resultant economic imbalances and absolute inefficiencies.
Development Economics
Analysis within the development economics field would focus on how rapid, forced industrialization efforts without sufficient infrastructural support led to catastrophic humanitarian costs.
Monetarism
Monetarists might look less at the Great Leap Forward since it was fundamentally less about monetary policy than about extensive structural reformation and central planning.
Comparative Analysis
The Great Leap Forward can be compared with other rapid industrialization strategies globally, such as Stalin’s Five-Year Plans. While both aimed at rapid transformation, the excessive pace and impractical methods adopted during the Great Leap Forward led to far greater human and economic tragedy.
Case Studies
- The USSR’s Industrialization under Stalin: Shows a similar intent in scaling industrial production but differs vastly in outcome due to different management and external circumstances.
- Vietnam’s Agrarian Reforms Post-1975: Provides an insightful contrast in how post-war reform initiatives can succeed or fail under varying degrees of central command and market incentives.
Suggested Books for Further Studies
- Mao’s Great Famine: The History of China’s Most Devastating Catastrophe, 1958-62 by Frank Dikötter
- The Great Leap Forward and After: Reflections on a Crisis edited by Dorothy Solinger
- Tombstone: The Great Chinese Famine, 1958-1962 by Yang Jisheng
Related Terms with Definitions
- Collectivization: The process of abolishing private farms and establishing state-controlled communes, pivotal in the Great Leap Forward.
- Backyard Furnaces: Simple steel making facilities set up by communities during the Great Leap Forward to increase production.
- Cultural Revolution: A subsequent Chinese campaign from 1966-1976 aimed at reinforcing communist ideology, observer of radical socio-economic policies initiated during the Great Leap Forward.
