Module POC3133 for 2021/2
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Undergraduate Module Descriptor
POC3133: Chinese Politics and Society
This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.
Please note that this module is only delivered on the Penryn Campus.
Module Aims
This module will introduce you to the history, internal politics and foreign policy of China. First, it aims to provide you with the historical background and conceptual tools to analyse political and social processes in China. By the end of the module, you will be able to understand how the doctrine of Communism has evolved in China over the past 70 years; evaluate the structure of family, gender and social relations; assess the ways in which rapid economic growth is transforming society; and understand the key principles driving Chinese foreign policy. Second, it will acquaint you with the central concepts and analytical frameworks associated with China, including Confucianism, ‘socialism with Chinese characteristics’, peaceful rise, and hukou. Thirdly, it will introduce you to concepts, perspectives and processes that will be useful in international relations and comparative politics more broadly, including the regional organisations that China engages with, as well as domestic processes such as modernization and urbanization. Finally, it aims to develop a sensitivity towards the differences between Western and non-Western worldviews; by the end of the module, you will also be able to attune yourself to hidden assumptions in Western and Chinese scholarly and journalistic reports on the region.
| On successfully completing the programme you will be able to: | |
|---|---|
| Module-Specific Skills | 1. Comprehend and evaluate the modern historical contexts for contemporary events and processes in China. 2. Comprehend and evaluate a range of key concepts and theoretical approaches to China. |
| Discipline-Specific Skills | 3. Critically employ a range of theoretical frameworks to a variety of empirical cases. 4. Critically analyze theoretical and empirical materials. |
| Personal and Key Skills | 5. Construct a reasoned and logical argument supported by evidence. 6. Communicate effectively through well-structured speech and writing 7. Work independently and with peers to achieve goals. |
Indicative Reading List
This reading list is indicative - i.e. it provides an idea of texts that may be useful to you on this module, but it is not considered to be a confirmed or compulsory reading list for this module.
Bell, Daniel, The China Model: Political Meritocracy and the Limits of Democracy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2015).
Bell, Daniel, China's New Confucianism: Politics and Everyday Life in a Changing Society, (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2008).
Bovingdon, Gardner, The Uyghurs: Strangers in their Own Land (New York: Columbia University Press, 2010).
Breslin, Shaun, “China and the Global Order: Signaling Threat or Friendship?” International Affairs, Vol. 89, No. 3 (2013).
Brown, Kerry, CEO China: The Rise of Xi Jinping (London: I.B. Taurus, 2016).
Chan, Wing Chan and Li Zhang, “The Hukou System and Rural-Urban Migration in China: Processes and Change”, The China Quarterly, 1999.
Chin, Gregory and Ramesh Thakur, “Will China Change the Rules of the Global Order? The Washington Quarterly, Vol. 33, No. 4 (October 2010).
Fei Xiaotong, From the Soil: The Foundations of Chinese Society, (Oakland, CA: University of California Press, 1992).
Lanteigne, Marc, Chinese Foreign Policy: An Introduction, 3rd Edition, (Abingdon: Routledge, 2016).
Ong, Lynette, “State-Led Urbanization in China: Skyscrapers, Land Revenue and ‘Concentrated Villages’”, The China Quarterly, Vol. 217 (March 2014).
Saich, Tony, Governance and Politics of China, 4th Edition, (Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan, 2015).
Spence, Jonathan, The Search for Modern China (London: W W Norton and Co, 1991).
Spence, Jonathan, Mao Zedong: A Life (New York: Penguin, 1999).
Tang, Wenfang, Populist Authoritarianism: Chinese Political Culture and Regime Sustainability (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016).
Yeh, Emily, Taming Tibet: Landscape Transformation and the Gift of Chinese Development, (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2013).
