HUAS95005 - Social Transformations in Contemporary China

Course Description

In this course, we will take a “bottom-up” approach to examine contemporary Chinese society. Rather than focusing on top-level politics and macro policies, this course will look at social changes that take place on the ground level, with special attention given to people’s everyday life experience. We will explore how social and economic reform in post-Mao China has impacted the lives of millions of Chinese in the past 30 years. We will first look at social inequality in contemporary China. The privatization of China widened the gap between the rich and the poor, reversing the class structure of Maoist China. Second, we will discuss gender and family in contemporary China by analyzing the changing cultural ideologies of the Chinese private life. Third, we will investigate the transformations of Chinese workplace, especially the demise of the socialist work-units and the rise of private sectors. Last but not the least, we will explore the formation and consequences of China’s one-child policy.

HUAS95005 China Studies