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This course is designed to introduce students to key aspects of Chinese domestic and foreign policy since 1949, with a focus on the post-Mao reforms since 1978. First-hand accounts and videos will be integrated with academic sources to provide a complex understanding of China's political and economic development. Special attention will be paid to rural-urban differences, state-society relations, and the regional and international consequences of domestic developments in China.
The following 4 books have been ordered for you to purchase at the bookstore:
-Orville Schell and David Shambaugh (eds.) The China Reader, 1999.
-Zhenhua Zhai, 1993. Red Flower of China. Soho Press.
-June Teufel Dreyer, 2004. China's Political System: Modernization and Tradition (4th Edition) Longman.
-Brown, Cote, Lynn-Jones and Miller (eds.) The Rise of China (MIT Press, 2000).
Other articles marked with a * listed on the syllabus can be found either on Edisk, or where noted they should be downloaded from electronic databases via the library's web page.
*1 short essay assignment on Red Flower of China Due on October 5th (20% of grade)
*1 In-Class Exam on November 11th (25%)
*1 Significant Research Paper (15-20 pages) (35%): there are 3 parts to this assignment:
a. Outline and preliminary list of sources due September 28th.(worth 10 points)
b. Annotated bibliography due November 23th(10 points)
c. Final paper due Friday December 17th (80 points)
*In-Class Assignments/quizzes, note also that there will be a non-cumulative quiz at the end of the semester or during exam week. (10%)
*Participation (10%)
Exams:
There is only a midterm exam. I will not give a make up exam due to an unexcused absence! There will be elements of choice on all parts of the exam. For example, you might be asked to answer 5 out of 7 short answers, and 1 out of 2 essay questions.
Writing Assignments:
You will write one short essay and a long research paper for this class. As noted elsewhere the research paper is broken down into 3 different assignments. You must do all three to earn a grade on the final project. Late papers and assignments will be docked 1/3 of a letter grade for each day outstanding.
In-class exercises and quizzes: There will be periodic quizzes and in-class exercises. They will be based on class material, the readings and/or on current events. Some quizzes and exercises are scheduled and listed on the syllabus, others may be given during the semester on a surprise basis. There is no scheduled make-up given for these elements of the course. If you miss class then you have missed the opportunity to earn points from the quiz or exercise.
Participation:Class is more interesting for everyone if people participate, therefore participation is 10% of your grade. You may earn A's for all your written work but don't be surprised if you end up with an A- or B+ for the semester because you did not contribute to class discussions.
Attendance:This is a key element of the course. Attendance will be taken every class. There will be no penalty for the first 2 absences (excused or unexcused). After the first two absences, each additional absence will cause you to loose 2 points from your final grade. The only exceptions to this will be for prolonged and grave illness or for religious observance. I should be notified as soon as possible if this should be taken into account.
Due Dates: Please note, I take due dates very seriously. Late papers and assignments will be penalized 1/3 of a letter grade for every day they are late. Assignments are due at the start of class and penalties begin applying once class has started on the date the assignment is due.
1. Come to Class.
2. Do the Reading.
3. Take notes on what you read. You should get into the habit of taking notes on everything you read, including required texts. This works better than highlighting text in your book. It will be impossible to study for the exam if all you have are multicolored, highlighted passages in the texts.
4. Read critically. Note down questions on the readings that you would like to raise in class and think critically about the author's sources and arguments.
5. Take notes in class.
6. Follow up on areas of interest. Read other sources besides the required texts. Check the footnotes and bibliographies in the main texts for further, specialized sources in your particular area of interest.
7. Ask questions if you're confused.
8. Refer to maps of China.
9. Keep up with current events. Read a major, national newspaper every day. The Washington Post, New York Times, Wall Street Journal are all excellent sources of information on the issues we're studying.
10. Keep an open mind about new ideas, approaches, and insights.
September 2nd: Introduction to course requirements and how to choose a research topic.
September 7th : How should we approach Chinese politics? From Civil War to Revolution
-Read the syllabus over carefully and start thinking about your paper question.
-June Teufel Dreyer, China's Political System Chapters 1 & 3.
September 9th: Building a Communist Victory
-Dreyer, Chapter 4, pp. 63-80.
-Seymour Topping "Watching the Old Guard Board Planes, and the New Enter a Prostrate Nanjing" New York Times October 1, 1999. * (on edisk or download from Lexis-Nexis)
September 14th : Marxism, Leninism, Mao Zedong-thought
-Communist Manifesto * (or download from http://www.anu.edu.au/polsci/marx/classics/manifesto.html) read sections I, II. pp. 1-10
-Craig Dietrich, 1998. People's China chapter 1 "Was China Ripe for Revolution" pp. 43-49.*
On your own between September 14 and 21 please watch the video: China in Revolution, part I, 2 hours.
September 16th: NO Class, Rosh Hashanah
September 21st: Discussion of video & Soviet Models and the Great Leap Forward
-Dreyer, Chapters 5 & 7 read pages 141-151 of ch. 7.
September 23rd: The Great Leap's Repercussions, Look over essay assignment
-Zhai, Red Flower of China Part 1, pp. 3-52 and Part 2, pp. 55-79.
September 28th: Research Paper Outline Due at the start of class. The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution
-Zhai, pp. 79-144.
September 30th: Urban and Rural Episodes during the Cultural Revolution
-Zhai, finish the book.
October 5th: The Origins of Reform: Papers are Due at the Beginning of Class
-Schell and Shambaugh, The China Reader Chapter 1, pp. 3-29.
-Dreyer, Chapter 6, pp. 107-114.
October 7th: Economic Reforms:
-Schell and Shambaugh, Ch. 6, pp. 299-311
-Dreyer, Chapter 7, pp. 151-168.October 12th : Political and Social Reforms
-Dreyer, Chapter 6, pp. 114-138; Chapter 12, pages 265-274.
-Schell and Shambaugh, Part II. "Outer Party Politics", pp. 155-175.
- On Your Own you should view the video " Small Happiness" (1 hour)
October 13th: 8:30pm Video: Gates of Heavenly Peace
-read the web page for the Gates of Heavenly Peace: www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/gate/
October 14th: Tiananmen Square
-Schell and Shambaugh, Part II, pp. 175-212.
-Dreyer, Chapter 12, pp. 274-286.
October 19: No Class: Fall Break
October 21st : Prospects for Democracy
-Series of articles by Brzezinski, Chen, Harding, Metzger, Oksenberg, Scalapino, Waldron, Wang, Zhao and Nathan from Journal of Democracy Jan. 1998, vol. 9, no.1, pp. 3-64.* (these essays should be downloaded from Project Muse via the Library's web site.)
October 26th : Institutions of the Party-State
-James Wang Contemporary Chinese Politics, an Introduction Chapter 4 *
-Bian Yanjie, Shu Xiaoling and John R. Logan, "Communist Party Membership and Regime Dynamics in China." Social Forces, March 2001, v. 79, n.3, pp.805-841. *
October 28th & November 2nd : Culture and Society
-Schell and Shambaugh, part V, pp. 260-296; and part VII, pp. 347-405.
-Teresa Wright, "The China Democracy Party and the Politics of Protest in the 1980s and 1990s." China Quarterly, 2002, 906-926.*
-Jim Yardley. "Leading Chinese Dissident Released From Prison" New York Times March 5, 2004:A6.* (Lexis-Nexis)
November 4th: Quality of Life Issues/Work Units and "floating workers"
-He Xinghan "People of the Work Unit" and Lu Feng "The Work Unit: A Unique Form of Social Organization" both in Michael Dutton Streetlife China 1999, pp. 42-58.*
-Dreyer, Chapter 11.
November 9th: Hu Jintao's Challenges and Review for Exam.
-Schell and Shambaugh, part I, pp. 103-154.
-Lu Xiaobo, "Booty Socialism, Bureau-preneurs, and the State in Transition: Ogranizational Corruption in China," Comparative Politics, v. 32, n.3 (2000) pp. 273-294.*
-Joseph Kahn and Jim Yardley. "Amid China's Boom, No Helping Hand for Young Quingming." New York Times August 1, 2004. * (Download from LexisNexis)
November 11th: Midterm Exam
November 16th: Chinese Foreign Policy
-Dreyer, Chapter 14, pp. 303-328.
-Avery Goldstein, "Great Expectations: Interpreting China's Arrival" pp. 3-40 in Brown, Cote, Lynn-Jones and Miller (eds.) The Rise of China
November 18th: Territorial Integrity: Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Tibet
-Nathan and Ross, The Great Wall and the Empty Fortress Chapter 11 pp. 193-211.*
-Schell and Shambaugh, part XI. Greater China, pp. 488-501.
November 23rd: Annotated Bibliographies are Due at the start of class
China and its Asian Neighbors
-Gerald Segal "East Asia and the "Constrainment" of China" and Robert Ross "The Geography of the Peace: East Asia in the twenty-first Century" both in Brown, Cote, Lynn-Jones and Miller (eds.) The Rise of China
November 30th: China's Military Power
-John Wilson Lewis and Xue Litai. :China's Search for a Modern Air Force" and David Shambaugh "China's Military Views the World: Ambivalent Security" both in Brown, Cote, Lynn-Jones and Miller (eds.) The Rise of China
-Bill Gertz. "China Tests Missiles" The Washington Times July 23, 2002. * download from Lexis-Nexis.
-Dreyer, read Chapter 9, skim pp. 195-201 and read more carefully pp. 210-218.
December 2nd: China and the US
-Wade L. Huntley and Robert Brown. "Missile Defense and China" in Foreign Policy in Focus Vol. 6, No. 3, January 2001*. download from CIAO database off the library homepage.
-Schell and Shambaugh, part X, pp. 470-487.
December 7th: China and the WTO
-Joseph Fewsmith, "The Political and Social Implications of China's Accession to the WTO", China Quarterly, vol. 167, September 2001, pp. 573-591.
December 9th: SPOTS and Final Quiz
If we fall behind during the semester then the final quiz will be held during exam period.Gov. 341
Essay assignment for Red Flower of China
Papers are due October 5, 2004 at the beginning of class, once class has started your paper is late.
General Instructions: Papers should be between 4-6 pages. They should be double-spaced with 1" margins and should be in a readable font (i.e. not too small). Please make sure that you number pages. Do not email, fax or put your paper on the server. I want a hard copy handed to me in class.
You may wish to do outside research for this paper; however, it is not required. You should make extensive use of readings and class material. Sources must be properly credited. You may use parenthetical citation (Author's last name, year of publication and page number) with a bibliography, endnotes or footnotes. If you are unsure of how or when to document sources please speak with me or refer to the writing center's guide Using Outside Sources.
While I encourage you to discuss the book and the questions with your classmates, your paper should be the product of your own labor. Academic dishonesty in any form will result in an F for the paper.
Choose one of the following questions:
1. What does the Cultural Revolution teach us about class structure and struggle under state socialism? In this respect is the Cultural Revolution firmly grounded in China's past or is a complete break with the past ?
2. The Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution were both in part efforts to resolve some basic problems of Chinese Socialism. Compare them along one or more of the following dimensions: the problems they were attempting to address; the specific policies they involved; the kind of politics they involved within the state and between the state and society; their successes and failures (in terms of their own avowed goals and/or in terms of other evaluative criteria you may wish to bring to bear). Account for the similarities and differences you have discovered.
3. Discuss the relationship between political leadership and popular spontaneity during the Cultural Revolution. Another way of thinking about this sort of question is to explore weather you feel that the Cultural Revolution was an exercise in totalitarianism or in pure democracy.
4. Are family relationships / family loyalty (or private life at all) compatible or incompatible with the goals of Chinese socialism? (Like question 1) In this respect is the Cultural Revolution firmly grounded in China's past or is it a complete break with the past?
Research Paper Assignment
Papers should be approximately 15-20 pages in length and should be on a topic of interest to you. You may choose one of the topics listed below as a starting point, or you may come up with your own topic. I do not recommend tackling a broad topic such as "China's post-Mao Reforms", pick a small puzzle or question that you can analyze with some depth. The best (and most interesting) papers are those that set out to answer a "why" question, rather than a "what" question. For example, instead of doing a paper on the occupation of Tibet, one might ask why China seems less willing to discuss limited or increased autonomy for Tibet than they are in proposing "one country, two systems" for Taiwan? A "why" question forces you to analyze a problem rather than just reporting information.
There are 3 parts to this assignment: All assignments should be handed in to me directly, or placed in my box. Do not email your paper to me or put it on the server.
An outline and preliminary list of sources is due September 28, 2004. All outlines must begin by stating the question or puzzle that the paper will address. Next, the outline must state in 1-2 sentences what you think the answer to the question is (this is your hypothesis). The remainder of the outline should show what sort of information will be used to answer the question. You may do this in outline form or in narrative form. A list of primary and secondary sources consulted should follow (by this date you should have a minimum of 3 of each listed).
The follow books have been placed on reserve. These are secondary sources and are worth consulting for ideas and other bibliographic references:
Michael Dutton, 1998 Streetlife China (Cambridge University Press).
Maurice Meisner, 1996 The Deng Xiaoping Era (Hill and Wang)
Craig Dietrich, 1998 People's China (Oxford University Press)
Kenneth Lieberthal, 1995 Governing China: From Revolution through Reform (Norton)
Jonathan Spence The Search for Modern China (Norton)
Periodicals worth consulting are as follows:
Far Eastern Economic Review
China Quarterly
Beijing Review
Asian Survey
Web sites:
www.feer.com (Far Eastern Economic Review on line)
www.chinadaily.net (China Daily, a business weekly)
www.chinanews.com (China news services and Hong Kong China News Agency)
www.chinatoday.com (China Today)
www.cnd.org (China News Digest)
www.fmprc.gov.cn (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, PRC)
www.hkstandard.com (Hong Kong Standard)
www.moftec.gov.cn (Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, PRC)
www.ncuscr.org (National Committee on US-China Relations)
www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/index.htm (People's Daily Beijing newspaper in English translation)
www.pku.edu.cn (Beijing University)
www.scmp.org (South China Morning Post, Hong Kong paper)
www.taipei.org (Central News Agency, Taipei, Taiwan)
An annotated bibliography is due November 23rd. This is the last day before Thanksgiving Break. If you will be off campus already you should turn in a hard copy of your bibliography before you leave. More detailed instructions are at the end of the syllabus.
The final paper is due December 17th. All papers should be double-spaced with 1" margins. No miniscule fonts. Sources must be properly documented, you may use parenthetical citation, end notes or footnotes. All papers must have a bibliography/works cited page. I will not read papers that do not include a bibliography and late penalties will accrue until one is turned in. Plagiarism will result in an F for the paper. If you are at all unsure of how to document sources either speak with me or consult the writing center and see the F & M publication Using Outside Sources. Please do not email, fax, or put your paper on the server. I want a hard copy of your paper either handed directly to me or placed in my box.
Possible Topics:
1. Why is nationalism resurgent in China today?
2. Discuss the changing nature of the human rights debate within China. Has it changed since 1978 or since 1989, why or why not?
3. Pick ONE problem confronting China: floating workers, reforming the danwei (work units), environmental degradation, corruption, the increasing income gap, etc. Explain how the current regime is addressing this problem and why the regime might have difficulty solving the problem.
4. What is the position of ethnic minorities within China? Why is ethnic conflict not a real problem in China today and what instead are some of the cleavages in society?
5. Does civil society exist in China and what role might it play in Chinese politics? Why might this matter or not matter?
6. Since the early 1990s icons of Mao have reappeared in China. Taxi drivers often have little portraits of the Chairman hanging from their rear-view mirrors and pop-art often depict his likeness. Why?
7. Although Japan is one of the (if not the ) biggest foreign investors in China the two countries have an ambivalent relationship with each other. Why are relations between the two Asian superpowers so awkward and what do you see as the balancing force(s) in their relationship?
8. Was Mao's strategy in winning the civil war really revolutionary or was he simply following a well-trodden path of a new emperor?
9. Under Mao the CCP enjoyed a fairly high level of support or legitimacy, yet now that China is more prosperous increasingly the party is seen as irrelevant and illegitimate. Why?
10. Is China likely to become a threat to stability in Asia? Why or why not? (Please note, in order to answer a question like this one you should be familiar with IR literature on hegemony & cooperation and conflict and have taken gov. 103.)
11. "The spring 1989 popular demonstrations appeared to be about democracy, but at their bottom lay something else." -Kurt Remarque Comment on this reflecting also on the movement's social composition and what has happened to pro-democracy forces in China in the intervening years.
12. Compare some of the kinds of political resistance seen under Mao, under Deng, and more recently. Why does resistance take the form it does and what might this tell us about prospects for the regime's power today?
13. Has China "gone capitalist"? Why/Why Not?
14. Using music or art as an example, discuss China's encounters since 1949 with its own historical culture and with foreign cultural forms, relating the issue to relevant aspects of politics, society, and/or economy?For Chinese Politics
Annotated Bibliographies: A set of guidelines
Due Date November 23rd, at the beginning of class.
I've asked that you have between 4-6 secondary sources and at least 6 primary sources for your write-ups.
Format: Have your research question at the top of the first page, next you should state what you think the answer will be, then begin your annotated bibliography. I would also like you to resubmit your outline (with my comments) with the bibliography so I have it to reference when I read your annotated bibliography.
What is an annotated bibliography? It can be done in two different ways. 1) As a narrative: researchers write essentially a paper describing their research. In this manner they discuss the whole investigative process, what questions led them to which sources and how those sources answered their question. Or, 2) (and this is somewhat more straight forward…) For each source used in a paper the author writes 3-4 sentences about the material.
In either method the goal is to get you to think both about your research question and about how to best answer it with the material found. It has the added benefit of prompting you to think critically about your sources. For example, when doing a paper on decision making during the Cuban Missile crisis one might come across different proposed responses to the discovery of Soviet missiles on Cuba: Naval officers promote a naval blockage as a solution, Air Force guys want strategic bombing to take out the missiles; Robert F. Kennedy supposedly advocated bombing the heck out of Cuba at one point in the White House discussions, but in his book on the subject entitled Thirteen Days, he portrays himself as a dove, a voice of reason pushing for a diplomatic solution. It turns out that the book was published while he was campaigning for the presidency.... thus one can evaluate his analysis knowing that the book's goal was to give a personal account of the crisis, but also that it was designed to put him in a good light to help him in his election bid.
What I am trying to say here is that an annotated bibliography asks a researcher to understand the context of the material. In the days of electronic research, this should help you realize that not all sources are created equal. Joe's web site may be interesting and informative but who is Joe and why does he purport to speak with authority on your subject.
Some questions that your bibliography will include are: (Most importantly) how does the material address the question that you are interested in? And, Who is the author of the piece? A journalist, a scholar, a participant (which side), an editorialist, etc. What is their main objective in writing?
Let me give you a quick example: Let's say my research question is "What were the causes of the Tiananmen Square demonstrations in China during the spring of 1989?"
1)Harrison Salisbury, 1989, Tiananmen Diary: Thirteen Days in June, Little, Brown, and Co., Boston. Harrison Salisbury is a NYT journalist who camped out in the Beijing Hotel for the last 2 weeks of the student demonstrations in China. Salisbury describes the support from a wide variety of Chinese citizens, and the in-fighting that develops among the students. He is a long-time China watcher who gives a first hand account of the events (= primary source material) that occurred during the military crack down on student demonstrators. His work is an asset in understanding WHAT happened, but does not provide thorough analysis on the underlying causes of the demonstrations (the WHY question).
2)Beijing Review, issues from May and June of 1989. Beijing Review is an English language publication overseen by the Chinese Communist Party. It provides the world with an interpretation of the events of Spring of 1989 from the perspective of the Chinese government. The Review portrays the demonstrations as the work of those who want to destroy China by sowing the seeds of chaos. The Review does not specifically address my research question about the causes of the demonstrations, however it does provide a useful source in understanding the government's reaction to the demonstrations. (this too is a primary source, but of a different sort)
3) Ted Gurr, Why Men Rebel? Princeton U. Press, Gurr is a professor of political science at U. of Maryland. He writes about issues of conflict: revolution, ethnic violence, etc. While his book, Why Men Rebel does not specifically address the demonstrations in China, it does provide a framework for understanding why people would rise up in protest against an oppressive government. To this extent his work is very useful in addressing the causes of the Tianamen protests, one can understand the students' actions as result of "relative deprivation", a sense that things in China were getting better, but not fast enough, thus the student demands for greater openness and accountability. (a secondary source)
4) Andrew Nathan, "Chinese Democracy in 1989" in Problems of Communism, Sept. 1989. Andrew Nathan is a professor of political science at Columbia and has written extensively on human rights and the lack of democracy in China. His work provides an analysis of the political climate in China in the spring of 1989 which helps us understand why the students might have believed that their protests would affect significant change. He explains that there were divisions among the top leaders and that it was possible that more moderate leaders could have consolidated their power, sadly the opposite occurs and hardliners push out reformers. (a secondary source)