Mass persuasion and the ideological origins of the Chinese Cultural Revolution

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Ou, Susan; Xiong, Heyu
• 署名单位: University System of Ohio; Case Western Reserve University
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0304-3878
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2021.102732
• 发表日期: 2021
• 关键词: State media; propaganda; Chinese Cultural Revolution; economics of conflict

摘要

We study the role of media in the transmission of ideology during the Cultural Revolution. We find that counties with a stronger radio signal experienced higher revolutionary intensity as shown by the number of killings. We also find that the effects of radio were concentrated in areas where Mandarin, the language of state-sponsored broadcasts, was better understood. This suggests that the extent of state persuasion was constrained by the linguistic heterogeneity of the population. Through investigation of later-in-life outcomes such as participation in the Communist Party and attitudes on wealth and inequality, we provide evidence of persistence in beliefs among the group most differentially exposed to media - native Mandarin speakers of an impressionable age at the start of the Cultural Revolution.