Post-socialist China and Globalization: social and political dynamics

Duration

30h Th

Number of credits

Lecturer

Eric Florence

Language(s) of instruction

English language

Organisation and examination

Teaching in the first semester, review in January

Schedule

Schedule online

Units courses prerequisite and corequisite

Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program

Learning unit contents

Schedule: Wednesdays from 11.00 to 13.00. classroom: TRIFAC 1, B 33 [Liège Sart-Tilman - Agora]

This course is being taught in ENGLISH.

First session: 25 September 2024.

Infos : Eric.Florence@ulg.ac.be

 

General outline (See Ecampus for the detailed agenda for this course as well as the assigned readings which will be made available through this platform as well as at the University Press)


This course is divided into two types of sessions (see section "Teaching activities" below):

1. Presentations by the teacher and possibly by guest professors on the following introductory themes (+ discussions):

- transition between Maoist and post-Maoist periods;

- state and Party institutions;

- government by law;

- migration, work and political economy in the reform era;

- the ethnic question in China;

- social organizations and social control;

- Hong Kong: a hybrid political regime

 

2. Thematic presentations (literature reviews) by student groups and discussions
 

Non-exhaustive list of themes provided to students. This year, priority will be put on the 6 following topics:

- The Chinese transnational state and Global China (Belt and Road Initiative; the Chinese transnational state and its diaspora);

- The nature of the Chinese political regime ;

- Hong Kong: from one country two systems to the National Security Law: domestic and international dimensions ;

- The labour regimes in XXIst Century China;

- Collective movements in the Xi Jinping era (LGTBQ+; labor relations; the challenging of the aspirational model tinked to high growth; etc.);

- Social mobility in XXst Century China.

 

Other topics can include (non exhaustive list):

- Intellectuals and the State;

- Freedom of expression and control of the Internet;

- The emergence of a civil society;

- The religious question in China;

- Redeployment of power beyond national borders;

The perspective followed is resolutely diachronic and dynamic. We will study how institutions inherited from the Maoist period (1949-1978) evolved to play a new role in a context of introduction of capitalism and market relations in China. The institutions of post-Maoist China have influenced and some of them still influence people's daily lives. However, we too often ignore the different ways in which these institutions are transformed by the individuals themselves.

 

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Learning outcomes of the learning unit

At the end of the course, the student will be able to:

• Develop her/his capacity to understand and situate the major issues of the socio-political processes at work in post-Maoist China, in particular with regard to the dynamics of relations between the state-party and contemporary Chinese society.
• Strengthen their ability to identify the key resources of the scientific literature in relation to the specific themes addressed in the course (civil society; modalities of social control; forms of redeployment of state power; influence of the Chinese Party-state abroad; etc.) and to synthesize its central elements.
• Develop her/his capacity for reflection and analysis in relation to the central concepts mobilized within the scientific literature studied - resistance / domination; hegemony; civil society and social mobilizations; capitalism; authoritarianism; democracy; etc.

Prerequisite knowledge and skills

Knowledge of the English language. This course is being taught in English (sessions and discussions, presentations by students and assigned readings). 

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

In order to achieve these objectives, the following learning activities will be implemented:

• Face-to-face presentations by the professor and by guest professors around general themes aimed at introducing the socio-political context of post-Maoist China. These sessions are preceded by assigned readings by the students (6 sessions of 2 hours). The students will have the opportunity to answer questions, as well as to formulate questions themselves related to the readings offered before and during these face-to-face sessions. These sessions will be devoted to a series of themes mentioned above under the heading "Contents of the learning unit".
• Preparation / writing in groups of 2 to 4 students of summary work (focused literature review) around a theme chosen jointly from a list of themes proposed by the professor (see below below "Contents of the teaching unit"). Exchanges between the students and the teacher will take place both online and face-to-face in order to refine the writing of these literature reviews by students which will then be shared on the ECampus platform. The teacher will provide advices on how to write this review (sources; structure of the paper; identification of paradigms and debates around the chosen theme; etc.). The first class session will be devoted in particular to the constitution of student groups and the allocation of themes to each of these groups;
• Oral presentation of this work by the students and face-to-face discussion (questions and answers).

Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)

Face-to-face teaching and online activities (via ECampus platforlm). 

Course materials and recommended or required readings

In addition to a portfolio of readings which will be available both on Ecampus and at the University of Liège Press, use will be made of a wide range of ethnographic materials (posters, slogans, official documents, press and scientific articles, popular literature , video documents, photographs, etc.). Access to these ethnographic documents complements the readings carried out by students and aims to allow students to give the learning content a materiality and a more lively dimension.

Written work / report

Continuous assessment


Further information:

Exam(s) in session

Any session

- In-person

oral exam

Written work / report


Additional information:

The assessment consists in:

1. Participation to the class sessions and online assignments: 10 % of the mark. This course is built on the basis of learning activities which rest on the active participation of students, this explains why participation to the sessions is taken into account within the global assessment of the course. Moreover, the active participation of students to the sessions and learning activities prepare students to the following two dimensions of the assessment (see hereunder items 2 and 3) ;

2. A written evaluation based on the first six weeks of class (students will be allowed to use the papers, book chapters and summaries of these documents during this assessment): 30% of the global grade;

3. Oral presentation and written delivery of a focused "state of the art" in groups of 2 to 4 persons (the oral presentation will last between 20 and 30 minutes and will be followed by questions and a discussion). These presentations can be delivered in French or English and are worth 60% of the overal grade. 

 

Work placement(s)

Organisational remarks and main changes to the course

None

Contacts

Eric Florence Eric.Florence@ulg.ac.be 

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