Past Progress

Ed Pulford is an anthropologist and Senior Lecturer in Chinese Studies at the University of Manchester.

• Introduction: Progresses Past and Present1. Postsocialism's Temporal Collisions2. Friends and Coevals3. Socialism in Several Countries4. Seizing Socialist Time Sovereignty5. Ends and Beginnings of Frontier HistoryConclusion: History's Lines and Loops

"In a border town where multiple imperial projects have soared and collapsed, Ed Pulford looks about the ruins and asks, 'What time is it?' Written with theoretical sophistication and fierce sympathy for local peoples' realities, Past Progress untangles Chinese, Russian, and Korean perspectives on a century of development history. Will be essential reading for anyone interested in the post-socialist condition, the dreams of empire, and the tangled problems of modernity."—Ruth Rogaski, Vanderbilt University "Past Progress is a compelling ethnography of memory and time emerging from everyday encounters with 'progress' in a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, and multi-national border region of Northeast China. Utilizing a deliberately non-linear approach that extensively draws upon historical and contemporary Chinese, Korean, and Russian sources, Pulford demonstrates how to think flexibly across shifting discourses of nation, state, culture, and history while foregrounding local, lived experiences of political revolutions and their ensuing social transformations."—Jenny Chio, University of Southern California "The first book-length study of a vital location in the Far East where Europe and Asia have long met to create a unique Eurasian culture. A huge achievement by a gifted anthropologist that will appeal to readers interested in new global history."—Heonik Kwon, University of Cambridge "Past Progress is an enjoyable read... bringing together the many strands of a talented researcher's experience and fieldwork. It seems likely to be an important fixture in future discussions of the constantly reconfiguring histories of the borderlands spaces shared by Russia, North Korea, and China, and the interrelationships of the states within the 'Tumen Triangle.'"—Adam Cathcart, Pacific Affairs