Includes bibliographical references and index.

Copyright Page / Author: Robert Cliver -- Dedication / Author: Robert Cliver -- Illustrations and Tables / Author: Robert Cliver -- Acknowledgments / Author: Robert Cliver -- Abbreviations Used in the Text and Footnotes / Author: Robert Cliver -- Conventions / Author: Robert Cliver -- introduction Class and Gender in the Chinese Revolution / Author: Robert Cliver -- chapter one The Development of China's Modern Silk Industry / Author: Robert Cliver -- chapter two Yangzi Delta Silk Workers in War and Revolution / Author: Robert Cliver -- chapter three New Democracy and Communist Revolution / Author: Robert Cliver -- chapter four "Weavers of Revolution" / Author: Robert Cliver -- chapter five Creating a Campaign Society / Author: Robert Cliver -- chapter six "Women of the Silk" / Author: Robert Cliver -- chapter seven The Socialist Transformation of the Yangzi Delta Silk Industry / Author: Robert Cliver -- Conclusion / Author: Robert Cliver -- Glossary / Author: Robert Cliver -- Bibliography / Author: Robert Cliver -- Index / Author: Robert Cliver -- Harvard East Asian Monographs (most recent titles) / Author: Robert Cliver.

"A history of China's Yangzi Delta silk industry during the mid-twentieth century. Compares two very different groups of silk workers and their experiences in the revolution: male silk weavers in Shanghai factories who enjoyed close ties to the Communist party-state and workers in silk thread mills, mostly young women who lacked powerful organizations or ties to the revolutionary regime"-- Provided by publisher.

"Red Silk is a history of China's Yangzi Delta silk industry during the wars, crises, and revolutions of the mid-twentieth century. Based on extensive research in Chinese archives and focused on the 1950s, the book compares two very different groups of silk workers and their experiences in the revolution. Male silk weavers in Shanghai factories enjoyed close ties to the Communist party-state and benefited greatly from socialist policies after 1949. In contrast, workers in silk thread mills, or filatures, were mostly young women who lacked powerful organizations or ties to the revolutionary regime. For many filature workers, working conditions changed little after 1949; and politicized production campaigns added a new burden within the brutal and oppressive factory regime in place since the nineteenth century. Both groups of workers and their employers, had to adapt to rapidly changing circumstances. Their actions-protests, petitions, bribery, tax evasion-compelled the party-state to adjust its policies, producing new challenges. The results, though initially positive for many, were ultimately disastrous. By the end of the 1950s there was widespread conflict and deprivation among silk workers, and, despite its impressive recovery under Communist rule, the industry faced a crisis worse than war and revolution"-- Provided by publisher.

Description based on print version record.