• Joniak-Lüthi Agnieszka

• Joniak-Lüthi Agnieszka

This seminar focusing on the People’s Republic of China will be composed of two parts. The first introductory part of the course will offer an overview of Chinese history, politics, economy, religion and society in order to provide a foundational knowledge of China for students with varying levels of familiarity with it. The current political system, with its dual power structure, and the role of the Communist Party will be discussed alongside grassroot governmentality and local-level elections. An examination of specific social phenomena such as the ‘floating population’ of rural migrants and a rising middle class will help us understand some of the recent dramatic changes in the structure of the Chinese society.

In the second part of the course, we will focus on multi-ethnic western and northern China, regions which are of increasing importance in China’s bold strategy of global connectivity. We will begin with an introduction to China’s multi-ethnic population and then turn to case studies: Tibet, Xinjiang and southwest China. We will analyze processes of cultural change, spatial transformations, ethnicity and nationalism there in the context of state-driven ‘civilizing’ projects, increasing land conflicts and market transformations.

The course language is English.

Learning Objectives

• Students expand their knowledge of modern China
• Students learn to analyze complex social-political developments, and to place them in the wider intellectual history
• Students practice and improve upon academic oral presentation and debating skills

Performance and evaluation:

Regular and active participation in class is compulsory. Attendance in the class and preparation of the given readings are part of the workload. Students are expected to read the compulsory literature and formulate one discussion question or a reflection for each class based on that literature. In addition, students prepare individually or in small groups a 10-15 minute input on one of the topics discussed in the course.