Finding Aid to the Franz Schurmann papers, circa 1955-1986 (bulk 1957-1970) BANC MSS 98/123 cz
Finding Aid written by Lara Michels
The Bancroft Library
The Bancroft Library
University of California
Berkeley, CA 94720-6000
(510) 642-6481
bancref@library.berkeley.edu
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
The Bancroft Library
Title: Franz Schurmann papers
creator:
Schurmann, Franz, 1926-2010
Identifier/Call Number: BANC MSS 98/123 cz
Physical Description:
9.5 linear feet
7 cartons, 2 boxes, 1 cardfile box
Date (inclusive): circa 1955-1986
Date (bulk): (bulk 1957-1970)
Abstract: The papers of Franz Schurmann, American historian and sociologist and expert on China during the Cold War.
Language of Material: Collection materials are in English
Physical Location: Many of the Bancroft Library collections are stored offsite and advance notice may be required for use. For current information
on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Access
Collection is open for research.
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All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Head
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owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright owner. See: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html.
Restrictions also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Use of digital files is restricted to research
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the reproduction of some materials may be restricted by terms of University of California gift or purchase agreements, donor
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Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.
All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the
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Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Franz Schurmann papers, BANC MSS 98/123 cz, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
Alternate Forms Available
There are no alternate forms of this collection.
Materials Cataloged Separately
Negatives have been transferred to Pictorial Collections of The Bancroft Library.
Acquisition Information
The Franz Schurmann papers were gifted to the Bancroft Library by Franz Schurmann in 1995.
Accruals
No additions are expected.
Processing Information
Processed by Lara Michels in 2013.
Biographical Information
Franz Schurmann, born in 1926 in Astoria, Queens, was an American sociologist and historian (though he referred to himself
as an explorer-journalist). An expert on China during the Cold War, Schurmann taught in both the Departments of History and
Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley for thirty-eight years. He also served for some time as the head of the
Center for Chinese Studies. Schurmann was fluent in as many as twelve languages (partly the product of the fact that his father
spoke five). He served in World War II, during which he met Stephen Brecht, the son of Bertolt Brecht. The two would remain
friends and Schurmann was known to spend granduate school summers at Brecht's house in Southern California. Schurmann received
his Ph.D. in Asian Studies from Harvard University after the war. One of his first major projects was to spend two years in
Afghanistan during the late 1950s documenting a tribe thought to be descended from the invasions of Ghengis Kahn. He published
his findings in a book entitled The Mongols of Afghanistan (1962). Schurmann's major work was his book Ideology and Organization
in Communist China, which was first published in 1966 at the start of Mao's Cultural Revolution. Schurmann was an opponent
of the Vietnam War and founded the Berkeley Faculty Peace Committee in 1964. He toured parts of Vietnam in 1968 with fellow
activist Mary McCarthy. Schurmann also was instrumental in starting the Pacific News Service in 1970 in order to bring more
journalism about Asia to the United States.
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection includes correspondence; writings; research files; professional and personal materials; and audio-visual. The
correspondence mostly dates from 1960 to 1970 and documents both personal and professional activities. Schurmann's writing
files include drafts of some of his books as well as manuscript versions of talks, lectures, and unpublished essays, mostly
on Chinese topics but also on issues relating to the Vietnam War. Among Schurmann's personal and professional materials are
pages from journals or self-reflections kept by Schurmann during the 1960s, which document, in detail, his personal life as
well as his thoughts on his work process and on places and events. Of particular note are Schurmann's journals of his trips
to Vietnam and Cuba with political activist Mary McCarthy in 1968 as well as his journals from Paris in 1962 (in which he
comments extensively on contemporary events such as the Cuban Missile Crisis). There are also cassette tapes mainly relating
to Vietnam and Cuba and five reel-to-reel audio tapes, at least one of which derives from Schurmann's work in Afghanistan
in the late 1950s. The final series consists of Schurmann's personal professional files which had been retained by the Center
for Chinese Studies and were transferred to The Bancroft Library in 2014.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Peace
China--Politics and government--1949-1976
China--History--Historiography
Asia--History--Historiography
Angel Island (Calif.)
Faculty papers
Schurmann, Franz, 1926-2010
Schurmann, Franz, 1926-2010--Archives.
University of California, Berkeley. Center for Chinese Studies
University of California, Berkeley. ǂb Faculty Peace Committee
Correspondence. Series 1:
1960-1970,
1987
undated
Physical Description: carton 1, folder 1-22
Writings. Series 2:
circa 1955-1970
Physical Description: carton 1, folder 23-28; carton 2-3
carton 1, folder 23-26
Preliminary draft of a volume to be entited Nomads of the World,
1956-1957
carton 1, folder 27-28
Leadership and Organization in Communist China (book manuscript),
circa 1968
carton 2, folder 1-9
Ideology and Organization in Communist China (book manuscript),
circa 1968
carton 2, folder 10
Storm Over America-Storm Over China (manuscript),
18 June 1969
carton 2, folder 11
Book System and Organization in Communist China (manuscript fragments)
undated
carton 2, folder 12-13
Family and Property in China with Particular Reference to the Southern Sung (book manuscript),
1955
carton 2, folder 14
Some Propositions on the Political Economy of the Socialist Countries (manuscript of text prepared for the Conference on Soviet
and Chinese Communism: Similarities and Difference; held in Lake Tahoe),
>1965
carton 2, folder 15
Communist China Today: The Great Leap Forward (manuscript of talk given before the Graduate Sociology Club at UC Berkeley),
1958
carton 2, folder 16
Organizational Contrasts between Communist China and the Soviet Union (manuscript),
undated
carton 2, folder 17-19
Econonimc Policy and Political Power in Communist China (manuscript),
undated
carton 2, folder 20
Monarch and Religion (manuscript),
undated
carton 2, folder 21
On Imperialism (manuscript),
31 July 1967
carton 2, folder 22
Mao Tse-Tung (manuscript of talk delivered at the Center for Chinese Studies Seminar on 8 Februrary 1965),
1965
carton 2, folder 23
Industrial Management in the People's Republic of China (manuscript of paper prepared for The First Research Conference on
the Social Science Research Council Committee on the Economy of China in Berkeley),
1963
carton 2, folder 24
Assorted writings,
circa 1957-1970
carton 2, folder 25
A Brief Essay on Comparative Analysis of the Soviet Union and China (manuscript),
undated
carton 2, folder 26
Draft of Chronology of Selected Events in 1957 Relevant to the Great Leap Forward (manuscript),
1964
carton 2, folder 27
Comparative Politics of Russia and China,
1965
carton 2, folder 28
The Prospects for Free Society in the Developing Countries (manuscript of essay to be read in advance of the meeting of the
Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions),
1962
carton 2, folder 29
State Over Society (manuscript),
undated
carton 2, folder 30
Organizational Contrast Between Communist China and the Soviet Union (manuscript),
1961
carton 2, folder 31
Functional Autonomy and Absolute Authority (Organizational Theory and Practice in Communist China Lecture, Social Science
Research Colloquium),
1962
carton 2, folder 32
On Monarchy and Bureaucracy in China (manuscript for 1959 Conference on Political Power in Traditional China),
carton 2, folder 33
Socialism in Vietnam and Cuba (manuscript),
1969
carton 3, folder 1
Communist China - Freedom and Constraint in Decision-Making (manuscript),
undated
carton 3, folder 2
An Essay on Domestic Factors Influencing Decision-Making in Communist China (manuscript for Council on Foreign Relations,
The United States and China in World Affairs),
1964
carton 3, folder 3
A Proposition on the Separation of Policy and Operations in China (manuscript for University Seminar on Modern East Asia:
China and University Seminar on International Communism, Columbia University),
1967
carton 3, folder 4
Assorted writings on Vietnam and the Vietnam War,
circa 1967
carton 3, folder 5-6
The Revolution and the People: China (manuscripts of scrips for filmstrips),
undated
carton 3, folder 7
The Act and Process of Revolution (manuscript of talk before the Graduate Sociology Club),
1965
carton 3, folder 8
Analysis of the monograph,
undated
carton 3, folder 9
Centralization and Decentralization in Communist China (assorted notes and fragments),
carton 3, folder 10
China - Hong Kong: Impressions over the Year (manuscript),
1961
carton 3, folder 11
China - The Possibilities of Peace and Disarmament (manuscript/notes),
undated
carton 3, folder 12
The Chinese Attitude Toward Nuclear War and Wars of Liberation (manuscript/notes),
undated
carton 3, folder 13
The Chinese N.E.P. - Transition or Beginning? (manuscript of advance copy of article in the China Quarterly),
1963
carton 3, folder 14
Communism in China (manuscript of lecture),
undated
carton 3, folder 15
Comparative Politics of Russia and China (unrevised manuscript of paper delivered at American Political Science Association
meeting),
1965
carton 3, folder 16
Creeping Escalation - From a Little War to a Big War,
undated
carton 3, folder 17
Crisis in Vietnam,
circa 1967
carton 3, folder 18-20
Foriegn Politics of Richard Nixon (manuscript drafts of chapters),
undated
carton 3, folder 21
Functional Autonomy and Absolute Authority (manuscript draft of paper presented for the Organizational Theory and Practice
in China Lecture, Social Science Research Colloquium),
1962
carton 3, folder 22
Review of Ping-ti Ho's Studies on the Polulation of China,
1959
carton 3, folder 23
Assorted book reviews,
1957-1960
carton 3, folder 24
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (manuscript of talk before Political Science Club),
undated
carton 3, folder 25
Human Volition and Organizational Demand,
1963
carton 3, folder 26
Early Industrialization of China and Japan,
undated
carton 3, folder 27
Intellectual Status and Social Stratification in China,
undated
carton 3, folder 28
Letter from Hong Kong - Observations on Recent Internal Developments in China,
1961
carton 3, folder 29
Letter from Hong Kong - Some Comments on the Sino-Soviet Dialogue,
1960
carton 3, folder 30
Mass Level Organization in Communist China (manuscript for the Third International Sovietological Conference in Japan),
1960
carton 3, folder 31
The New Left and its Critique,
1966
carton 3, folder 32
Notes and comments on the state of the Chinese economy,
circa 1963
carton 3, folder 33
Notes on the conflict of the territorial and functional principles of organization,
undated
carton 3, folder 34
On Methods of Control in Communist China,
undated
carton 3, folder 35
On State, Society, and Party,
undated
carton 3, folder 36
On System Differences Between the Soviet Union and Communist China (manuscript),
undated
carton 3, folder 37
On the Chinese Revolution,
circa 1962
carton 3, folder 38
On the Functioning of Organization in Communist China,
undated
carton 3, folder 39
On the Nature of the University,
undated
carton 3, folder 40
On War and Revolution in Asia,
undated
carton 3, folder 41
On why I should be concerned about Vietnam and A Dream (two manuscripts),
1966
carton 3, folder 42
An Open Letter to Congress,
circa 1966
carton 3, folder 43
Organization and Response in Communist China (manuscript of paper for the Center for Chinese Studies Research Colloquium),
1958
carton 3, folder 44
Organization and Tensions in Communist China,
undated
carton 3, folder 45
Organisation und flexibilitat der KP in der Sowjetuion und in China,
undated
carton 3, folder 46
The Organizational Function of the Communist Party in China: The Party at the Mass Level (manuscript for Center for Chinese
Studies colloquium),
1959
carton 3, folder 47
Oriental Despotism (manuscript of talk given before the Kroeber Anthropological Society),
1958
carton 3, folder 48
The para-state (manuscript and correspondence),
circa 1966
carton 3, folder 49
Peking's Recognition of Crisis - Internal Developments in Mainland China,
1961
carton 3, folder 50
People's Communes: The Continuing Mass Movement,
undated
carton 3, folder 51
Problems of Political Organization During the Yuan Dynasty,
undated
carton 3, folder 52
Reflections on China After a Year in Hong Kong,
1961
carton 3, folder 53
Reflections on China Today,
1962
carton 3, folder 54
Religion and Community: A Comparative Approach,
undated
carton 3, folder 55
Reflections on China,
1967
carton 3, folder 56
Report on a Trip to the Soviet Union,
1960
carton 3, folder 57
Sociology and Asian Studies (manuscript of talk before the Graduate Sociology Club),
1956
carton 3, folder 58
Sociology and the Study of the Non-Western World,
undated
carton 3, folder 59
Some Comments on Reading Allen Whiting's Moscow and Peking: Suspended Dialogue?,
undated
carton 3, folder 60
Soviet Society and Chinese Society - Contrasts and Comparisons,
1960
carton 3, folder 61
System, Contradictions, and Revolution in America,
undated
carton 3, folder 62
Why they Fear the New Left,
circa 1966
carton 3, folder 65
Community lectures,
circa 1958-1968
carton 3, folder 66
On the Prospects for Free Society in the Developing Countries: An Essay on Culture Change and its Implications,
circa 1962
carton 3, folder 67
American Imperialism (manuscript of talk given before the Sociology Club,
1968
carton 3, folder 68-76
Untitled and unidentified writings and fragments,
circa 1957-1970
Teaching. Series 3:
circa 1960-1970
Physical Description: carton 4, folder 1-32
Scope and Contents
Includes files on the following courses taught by Schurmann at UC Berkeley: History 19B, History 100, History 102, History
117, History 184, History 189, History 191, History 280, History 291, Sociology 117, Sociology 120, Sociology 135, Sociology
141, Sociology 142, Sociology 145, Sociology 184, Sociology 237, Sociology 241.
Research Files. Series 4:
circa 1957-1970
Physical Description: carton 4, folder 33-52; carton 5; carton 6, folder 1-28
carton 4, folder 33
American Historical Association,
carton 4, folder 35
Camelot (Project Camelot),
carton 4, folder 36
Congress of American Professors,
carton 4, folder 37-43
Center for Chinese Studies,
carton 4, folder 47
Committee on Republican China,
carton 4, folder 48-49
Comparative Communism Project,
carton 4, folder 50
Comparative Development Group,
carton 5, folder 11
Interviews (mainly with Chinese men and women),
carton 5, folder 12
Lydia Hirsch: Analytical Subject and Name Index of Economic Structure of the Yuan Dynasty,
carton 5, folder 14
National Science Foundation,
carton 5, folder 16
Organization in Commerce,
carton 5, folder 18-23
Papers from 1959 Conference on Political Power in Traditional China,
carton 5, folder 28
Principles of industrial management,
carton 5, folder 29
Production methods during Great Leap Forward,
carton 5, folder 32
Productivity - Quality - Economizing,
carton 5, folder 39
70 articles on agriculture,
carton 5, folder 42
Sino-Soviet faculty seminar,
carton 5, folder 43
Sino-Soviet research (comparative),
carton 6, folder 1
Social Science Research Council seminar,
carton 6, folder 2
Sources in Taiwan for research on Chinese Communism,
carton 6, folder 3
Sovietological conference,
carton 6, folder 4-5
Spiritual penetration: Nomad invasion from without,
carton 6, folder 8
Sub-Committee on Chinese Society,
carton 6, folder 10
Targets-Production Problems,
carton 6, folder 11
Targets, Goals, Incentives,
carton 6, folder 17
Traditional Chinese society,
carton 6, folder 18
Transcript of Mao's talk with the French in 1964,
carton 6, folder 20
United States Policy in Southeast Asia,
carton 6, folder 26
Workers councils - meetings,
Professional and Personalia. Series 4:
circa 19-1870
Physical Description: carton 6, folder 28-58; box 1
Scope and Contents
This series includes biographical and bibliographical materials, some materials relating to Schurmann's professional activities
at UC Berkeley and elsewhere, and pages from journals or self-reflections (called Selbstbeshauung by Schurmann) kept by Schurmann
during the 1960s. These journal pages document, in detail, Schurmann's personal life as well as his thoughts on his work process
and on places and events. Of particular note are Schurmann's journals of his trips to Vietnam and Cuba with political activist
Mary McCarthy in 1968 as well as his journals from Paris in 1962 (in which he comments extensively on contemporary events
such as the Cuban Missile Crisis). All of Schurmann's journals are in carton 6.
Audio-Visual. Series 5:
circa 1950-1970
Physical Description: box 2; cardfile box 1
box 2
Five unidentified reel-to-reel audio tapes (may be related to Schurmann's work in Afghanistan in the late 1950s),
cardfile-box 1
Cassette audio-tapes,
Scope and Contents
Titles on tapes: Hoa-binh; Prof. Ton That Tung's Message; Music, Poetry (Hanoi) Ecole de Beaux Arts, Mar. 23, 1968; Hu'ng
Yen Province, Mar. 25, 1968; March 28; Col. Ha Van Liau 23/03/68; Isla des Pinos; Fidel; Cuba CDR; untitled
Files from the Center for Chinese Studies Series 6
1958-1968
Scope and Content
This series consists of Schurmann's personal professional files which had been retained by the Center for Chinese Studies
and were transferred to The Bancroft Library in 2014. Included are topical files, files on conferences and lectures and correspondence
files.
carton 6, folder 60
Education and World Affairs
1963-1966
carton 7, folder 1
Ideology and Organization in Communist China
1967
carton 7, folder 2
International Arts and Science Press
1966
carton 7, folder 3-4
Manuscripts and Reviews
1963-1966
carton 7, folder 6
Politics of Escalation
1966-1967
carton 7, folder 12
Subcommittee on Research on Chinese Society- 10th Seminar
1964
carton 7, folder 13-15
Conferences and Lectures
1964-1966
