Dazhai, modernity and self-sufficiency in the collectivised villages of Maoist China.

The essay explores facts and collective imaginary that marked the agricultural modernisation of the first decades of the People's Republic of China (1949-1979) through the story of Dazhai village and its reconstruction. From the transformation of the landscape to the creation of services and spaces consistent with the new organisation of work and the associated life proposed by the Communist Party, the contribution follows the evolution and dissemination of models, guidelines, and rural interventions developed during Maoism. The essay concludes tracing the Maoist signs in the current Chinese policies of rural development.