A new article in the Made in China Journal titled "Agricultural Drones: Material Afterlives of Mao’s Green Revolution" by Lena Kaufmann is now online. This article explores the material afterlives of China’s Green Revolution. It argues that contemporary digital farming technologies such as drones extend rather than replace earlier agrarian modernisation. Based on ethnographic fieldwork and documentary analysis, it foregrounds the Mao era as sedimented in reservoirs, fields, seeds, chemicals, machines, and techniques. Rather than regarding the Mao era primarily through trauma, ideology, or high politics, it suggests that Maoist agrarian modernity and belief in technological fixes endure as material substrates of China’s ongoing rural digital transformation, revealing how past political projects continue to shape technological futures long after their institutional forms have changed. The article is part of a forthcoming special issue on Memories and Lessons from the Mao Era. The article is open access and can be accessed here (online first): https://madeinchinajournal.com/2026/10/06/agricultural-drones-material-afterlives-of-maos-green-revolution/

Cover image: Ruishi Zhen