CONTEMPORARY CHINESE SOCIETY

This course contributes to (a) strengthen students' understanding of social institutions in contemporary China; and (b) to enable students to conduct further, independent inquiry over social institutions, in China and beyond. In order to strengthen relevance and consistency of the course with the curriculum in 'Language and Management to China', this courses is framed upon theoretical concepts largely employed in the field of organization studies, and to a lesser extent sociology and political science.

Students are expected to (a) achieve a clear and in-depth understanding of major dynamics of social change between 1949 and the present day, relevant to individual values and beliefs, social norms, social rules, and political relations; and (b) to master key theoretical and conceptual tools employed in the course, with particular reference to institutional theory.

Compulsory requirements: regular enrollment in relevant MA programs/courses offered by Ca' Foscari University Venice.
Additional requirements: willingness to work in collaborative ways with fellow students. Attendance to classes recommended.

Classes will focus on four levels of social change: (a) individual beliefs and cognitive attitudes; (b) social norms; (c) structures (i.e., formal rules, policies); and (d) change in relations among humans and between humans and nature. The nexus among these different levels of social change will be explored by means of established theoretical and analytical frameworks, drawn from the social sciences.

Please be mindful that this reading list is going to be updated before the start of the II semester!

To gain a general understanding of how China has changed throughout the XX century:

1. Spence, Jonathan (2013). The Search for Modern China - Third Edition. New York and London: W.W. Norton & Company, pp. 559-707.

On State-society interactions:

2. He Baogang, Warren, Mark E. 2010. "Authoritarian Deliberation: The Deliberative Turn in Chinese Political Development". Perspectives on Politics, 9 (2), 269-289.

3. Mertha, Andrew (2009). "Fragmented Authoritarianism 2.0: Political Pluralization in the Chinese Policy Process". China Quarterly, 200, 995–1012.

On modernization, politics, and science:

4. Greenhalgh, Susan (2005). Missile Science, Population Science: The Origins of China's One-Child Policy. The China Quarterly, 182, 253-276.

To understand the social dimension of desire and the way it is intertwined with today's China politics and economy.

5. Rofel, Lisa (2007). Desiring China: Experiments in Neoliberalism, Sexuality, and Public Culture. Durham:Duke University Press, pp. 1-64.

On human-nature relationship in China:

6. Shapiro, Judith (2001). "Mao's War Against Nature: Legacy and Lessons". Journal of East Asian Studies, 1, 2, Special Issue: Perspectives on Environmental Protection in Northeast Asia, 93-119.

On the theory of institutional change [OPTIONAL READING]

7. Palthe, Jennifer (2014). "Regulative, Normative, and Cognitive Elements of Organizations: Implications for Managing Change".Management and Organizational Studies, 1 (2), 2014, 59-66.

All materials are available either in printed version (at the Department's library) or in digital version (through the moodle platform). I might add some more optional readings.

Evaluation of students' proficiency will be carried out by the following means:
- Written test
Evaluation methods will be communicated during the first class.

- Frontal teaching;
- Collaborative conceptual mapping;
- Students' presentations and discussion, moderated by the teacher.

English

written