Social Sciences in China

Vol. 41, No. 2, 2020

 

Exploring New Frontiers in Contemporary Chinese History Studies: A Case Study of Third Front Construction

(Abstract)

 

Xu Youwei

 

In the 1960s, to prepare for war, China initiated a massive economic campaign known as “Third Front construction” (sanxian jianshe 三线建设). Third Front construction was largely founded on manufacturing industry, transport, and national defense science and technology.

It began to attract academic attention from the 1980s, and the relevant research has made rapid progress since the advent of the new century. Today, research efforts in this field mainly come from history, supplemented by other disciplines such as sociology, economics, geography, architecture and musicology. With the increasing integration of disciplines in the future, Third Front construction promises to be one of the most vigorous and creative areas in studies of contemporary Chinese history and contemporary China.

 

Keywords: Third Front construction, Small Third Front construction, contemporary Chinese history