Mao's War Against Nature: Legacy and Lessons

This article, adapted from the author's new book, Mao's War Against Nature: Politics and the Environment in Revolutionary China (Cambridge University Press, 2001), argues that Mao and the Chinese Communist Party's “war” to bend the physical world to human will often had disastrous consequences both for human beings and the natural environment. The Chinese ideal of “harmony between heaven and humans” was abrogated in favor of Mao's insistence that “Man Must Conquer Nature,” and the link between the abuse of people and the abuse of nature became unusually stark and transparent. Shapiro argues that the Mao years offer a cautionary tale with wide-ranging implications for societies struggling to achieve a more harmonious relationship with nature.