SOSC 180: An Introductory to Chinese Society

Summer, 2007

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday 12:00PM-14:50PM

LTG 135

INSTRUCTOR: Dr. WU Xiaogang

OFFICE: 3377 Academic Building

PHONE: 23587827

EMAIL: sowu@ust.hk

INSTRUCTIONAL ASSISTANT:

OFFICE HOURS: by appointment only

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course surveys the post-1949 Chinese society, focusing on social changes since 1978. It draws work on China not only in sociology but also broadly in other social science disciplines. The course is structured as a thematic discussion of some major issues in socialist and post-socialist Chinese society. We will explore the basic institutional make-up of Chinese society, the structural changes brought forth in the reform era, and how these institutions configure the social life in contemporary China. We will pay attention to both changes from and continuities with the pre-reform past. After taking this course, students would be able to make sense of the impact of reform on social structures/institutions, individuals’ life chances, and social relations.

FORMAT

Each class meeting consists of about 2 to 2.5 hours of lecture, and the rest of discussion. Students are expected to finish the assigned readings before the class, and contribute ideas and questions for discussion.

TEXTBOOKS

No textbook will be used. Reading materials are to be distributed in class, on internet, or downloadable from the course WebCT.

Despite the fact that this is English ONLY class, some Chinese materials will be included.

COURSE HOMEPAGE

I will post announcement, lecture notes, and some related readings on the WebCT homepage created for this course. You may use your ITSC username and password to log in (http://webct.ust.hk) and find the course syllabus, reading materials, and lecture notes. You may also post your questions and exchange ideas with me, TA, or your fellow classmates on the discussion board. Some reading and visual materials are drawn from the http://www.nytimes.com/specials/chinarises/intro/index.html

On-line discussion is counted as a part of the class participation.

I will load the lecture notes on the web no later than the mid-night before the day when the lecture is given. You should print out the notes and bring them to the class.

REQUIREMENTS

(1) Attendance and Reading Preparations

I understand that this is a compact summer course, and everyone is busy. If you have other commitments and will miss a substantial portion of the classes, I suggest that you make a right decision which is the best for you.

In general, no extra enrollment will be added to the class.

You MUST attend all class meetings. Since there are no formal discussion sections for this course, I will leave about 15-20 minutes for questions and discussion, or for pop-up quizzes. By “pop-up” quiz I mean they will be not announced in advance. If you miss one, you will receive “zero.” No makeup quiz will be given.

Each day there are a certain amount of readings assigned. You are expected to complete all them before the class, and actively participate in discussions.

The quizzes and discussion (including on-line discussion) account for 20% of your final grade.

(2) Midterm Exam

There will be one midterm exam. It will be a sit-in but open-book one, with multiple-choice and short-answer questions, covering materials both in the lectures and in the assigned readings.

(3) Small Research Project

At the end of the semester, you are required to write a small research report (10 pages, double-spaced). There are several options:

(i) You can integrate readings covered in the course, and search for more literature and conduct an in-depth analysis on a topic you are interested in;

(ii) You can write a review on one of the documentary films we have watched;

(iii) You can interview someone (either a family member or a friend) with mainland background, and make sense of their personal life story with the knowledge you have learned from this course.

(4) Final Exam

It will be similar to the midterm exam in format (a sit-in, open-book exam, with multiple-choice questions, short-answer, and essay questions, covering materials both in the lectures and in the assigned readings since the midterm).

GRADING POLICY

· Attendance, participation, and quiz: 15%

· Midterm: 30%

· Final:35%

· Small research report: 20%.

COURSE OUTLINE AND TENTATIVE SCHEDULE

Week 1

Day 1 (June 11): Introduction: The Study of Chinese Society

PRC History (Documentary: The Mao Years)

Reading:

1. Hale, David and Lyric Hughes Hale. 2003. “China Takes Off.” Foreign Affairs 82(6)36-53.

2. Lieberthal, Kenneth 1995 Governing China Chapter 4 “Maoist Era.” Pp. 83-119 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Day 2 (June 12): The Party-State and Society

Formal and Informal Structures

Dynamic Economy, Declining Party-State

Reading:

1. Lieberthal, Kenneth 1995 Governing China “Part 3. The Political System” Pp. 155-218.

2. Goldman, Merle and Roderick MacFarquhar 1999. Chapter 1 “Dynamic Economy, Declining Party-State” pp3-36 in The Paradox of China’s Post-Mao Reforms. Harvard University Press.

Day 3 (June 13): Rural-Urban Divide

The Hukou System and Rural-Urban Divide in China

Migrants in Cities (Movie: Beijing Bicycle)

Reading:

1. Stockman 2000. Chapter 3 “Rural and Urban in China.” Pp 45-68. Polity Press.

2. Solinger, Dorothy 1999 “China’s Floating Population” pp220-240 in The Paradox of China’s Post-Mao Reforms Merle Goldman and Roderick Macfarquhar Harvard University Press.

Week 2

Day 4 (June 14): Rural Society

The Rural Collective and its Fate

The Rural Crisis in the 1990s

Reading:

Oi, Jean 1999. “Strategies of Development: Variation and Evolution in Rural Industry.” Pp 58-94 in Rural China Takes Off. University of California Press.

Berstein, Thomas 1999. “Farmer Discontent and Regime Response” Pp 197-219 in The Paradox of China’s Post-Mao Reforms edited by Merle Goldman and Roderick Macfarquhar, Harvard University Press.

Day 5 (June 18): Urban Society

The Work Unit System: Origins and Functions

The Work Unit System Under Reform

Reading:

Bian, Yanjie 1994. Work and Inequality in Urban China, pp. 23-50. Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press.

Naughton, Barry 1997 “Danwei: The Economic Foundations of a Unique Institution” in X. Lü & E. Perry (eds.), Danwei: The Changing Chinese Workplace in Historical and Comparative Perspective. Armonk, N.Y.: M. E. Sharpe.

[June 19 Holiday, No Class]

Day 6 (June 20): Jobs and Employment, Changing Labor Relationships

Reading:

Bian, Yanjie 1994. Work and Inequality in Urban China, pp. 51-71. Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press.

Whyte, Martin K. 1999. “The Changing Role of Workers” Pp 173-196 in The Paradox of China’s Post-Mao Reforms edited by Merle Goldman and Roderick Macfarquhar, Harvard University Press

Week 3

Day 7(June 21): In-class Midterm

Documentary: Min Gong Yuan (Peasant Workers Woe)

Day 8 (June 25): Housing Reform, Real Estate Boom, and Urban Renewal and Urbanization

Reading: http://www.nytimes.com/ref/business/worldbusiness/2005_CHINA_REALESTATE.html

Day 9 (June 22): Educational System and Educational Inequality

Rural Education (Movie: Not One Less)

Reading:

Stockman 2000 Chapter 7

Wang, James C.F. 2002 Contemporary Chinese Politics: An Introduction Chapter 12 (Pp 338-350) Prentice-Hall

Week 4

Day 10 (June 26): Political and Economic Elite

Cadres and the Cadre System

The Rise of Private Enterprises and Entrepreneurs

Reading:

Wang, James C.F. 2002 Contemporary Chinese Politics: An Introduction Chapter 5 Pp 118-138. Prentice Hall

Parris, Kristen 1999. “The Rise of Private Business Interests.” Pp 262-82 in The Paradox of China’s Post-Mao Reforms edited by Merle Goldman and Roderick Macfarquhar, Harvard University Press

Day 11 (June 27): Losers and Winners in Economic Transition

Documentary: China in Red

Reading:

Stockman Chapter 8

Day 12 (June 28): Individual and Society

Guanxi in Social Life

Guanxi in Economic Transaction

Reading:

Fei, Xiao-tong.1992. “Chaxugeju: The Differential Mode of Association” pp 60-70 in From the Soil: The Foundation of Chinese Society University of California Press.

Stockman Chapter 4

Week 5

Day 13 (July 3): Gender, Marriage and Family

Reading:

Stockman Chapter 5

Day 14 (July 4): China’s Population Issues and One-Child Policy

Documentary: China’s Lost Girls

Reading:

Lee, James and Wang Feng 1999. One Quarter of Humanity Pp 105-136 Harvard University Press.

TBA

Term Project Paper Due on the Final Exam Date (July 11^th, venue to be announced).