Puck Engman
puckengman.bsky.social
Puck Engman
@puckengman.bsky.social
Teaches and writes about Chinese socialism
https://history.berkeley.edu/puck-engman
September 26, 2025 at 2:15 PM
August 22, 2025 at 5:05 AM
Reposted by Puck Engman
TANK vs TESLA

"We've crushed fascism before and we'll crush it again"

- ⁠WW2 veteran Ken, 98, in the tank
May 7, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Map showing Danyang in April-May 1949. In this small town on the Yangtze River, the PLA prepared for taking Shanghai while some five thousand CCP cadres studied the city that they would soon run.
May 6, 2025 at 5:46 PM
I wish Elon Musk all the success that Henry Ford had with Fordlandia. www.politico.com/news/magazin...
‘He’s Trying to Colonize This Community’: Inside Elon Musk’s Plan to Take Over This Texas Town
Elon Musk gave it a shot in Washington. Now he’s aiming to be the de-facto mayor of a small Texas town.
www.politico.com
May 3, 2025 at 1:22 AM
The hand of rectification digging out the roots of capitalism. By Han Xiaoluo.
February 25, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Old news: Bleach prevents COVID-19. Old-old news: Tadpoles prevent pregnancy. In 1956, Ye Xichun claimed in Beijing Daily that the method was 90% effective. The Chinese medical authority had learned of the practice "from a friend" who had seen it used in the brothels of Shanghai.
December 9, 2024 at 2:18 PM
Bay Area developers get tax breaks to build "affordable" housing but the units rent at or above market rates. "Public to private sector wealth transfer" is a very polite term for the scheme. www.siliconvalley.com/2024/12/01/i...
Investors got big tax breaks to turn luxury apartments into affordable housing. In many cases, rents are higher than before
The “essential housing” program has been a financial bonanza for the private developers and bankers, who earn millions in fees for each apartment complex bought.
www.siliconvalley.com
December 1, 2024 at 8:40 PM
"Rebellion Against Mao Is Justified" Taiwanese psyop leaflet adopting both slogans and visuals from the Cultural Revolution. Context and analysis available on Herbert A. Friedman's "psywarrior" website
November 27, 2024 at 7:02 PM
Reposted by Puck Engman
My book, “Making Mao's Steelworks: Industrial Manchuria and the Transnational Origins of Chinese Socialism,” finally has a confirmed publication date—December 5, 2024. You can order it via Amazon.
www.amazon.com/Making-Maos-...
Making Mao's Steelworks: Industrial Manchuria and the Transnational Origins of Chinese Socialism (Cambridge Studies in the History of the People's Republic of China)
Amazon.com: Making Mao's Steelworks: Industrial Manchuria and the Transnational Origins of Chinese Socialism (Cambridge Studies in the History of the People's Republic of China): 9781009382267: Hirata, Koji: Books
www.amazon.com
November 26, 2024 at 11:57 PM
Reposted by Puck Engman
Feel so encouraged! So many friends, colleagues, and mentors have helped and supported me throughout this process—my gratitude is beyond words.
(Embarrassingly, the typesetting of öber-ün durabar is still wrong after I corrected it three times on the proof -- it was correct on my proof lol
Just published on APSR First View: "The Global Network of Liberty: Toward a New Framework for Understanding the History of Political Concepts" by Shoufu Yin @shoufuyin.bsky.social. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
November 21, 2024 at 4:42 PM
Reposted by Puck Engman
The Berliner Zeitung has been running a number of pieces along these lines attacking the idea that the GDR was a dictatorship and claiming that this is part of some kind of new Historikerstreit. There is a lot of sleight of hand going on here...
November 21, 2024 at 9:34 AM
Reposted by Puck Engman
SCMP: "Beijing is stepping up efforts to tackle delayed payments for migrant workers, aiming to maintain social stability in turbulent economic times."
www.scmp.com/economy/chin...
Wary of ‘vicious’ events, China makes migrant worker arrears a priority
Social harmony takes centre stage after high-profile killings, and China’s cabinet says the unpaid salaries of migrant labourers require political action.
www.scmp.com
November 21, 2024 at 3:19 AM
For my first post here: A photo by Jack Birns. Taxi dancers from Shanghai's dance halls and nightclubs protest outside of the Guomindang gongshang office in early 1949.
November 20, 2024 at 8:31 PM