從中央到地方：三十年來西方中共農村革命史研究述評

Localizing Revolution: A Critical Overview of Western Research on the History of the Chinese Communist Revolution in Rural China during the Past Thirty Years

自從1970年代末期以來，西方中共黨史研究圈中出現了一股後來被稱為「地方研究」的新趨勢。新一代學者依據日益開放的中國歷史檔案資料，質疑過去的「大理論」研究，主張中國共產革命是一場因地制宜的地方革命。迄今為止，地方研究已成為西方中共黨史研究的主流。為何地方研究會興起？其主張為何？其中又有什麼值得吾人參考與商榷之處？本文將藉由梳理近三十年來與中共農村革命史相關的英語文獻，試圖回答上述問題。

Since the late 1970s, ”local studies” has become increasingly important in the field of Chinese Communist history in the West. As ever more archival materials on the Chinese Communist Revolution became available, new research began to draw attention away from the ”grand theory” approach of the previous generation of scholars, arguing that the revolution was in essence a congeries of local revolutions that was adapted to the complex Chinese local reality step by step by local party members. Local studies have indeed now become the mainstream of the field. Why did the local studies approach spring up? What did the proponents of local studies advocate? Should there be any more detailed deliberation on their argument? This article will try to answer these questions by examining the English-language literature from the past thirty years on the history of Chinese Communist Revolution in rural China.