150025 PS MA - Introductory Seminar (Politics, Economy and Law) (M2) (2020W)

Title: Conflict in a Family: Anthropological Perspectives to the Everyday State Relationship and Law in Contemporary China

The aim of the course is to develop the skills needed to come up with a research question and related theoretical frameworks and methodologies. The course will also encourage the use of both Chinese and English language materials.

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This course is a social sciences approach to the study of law and politics in contemporary China, in large part from the perspectives of the everyday lives of people living in China. It starts off by considering situations of family and community conflict as moments when values and regulations can become particularly visible, and asks: what roles do politics, law and the state have in people’s everyday, including in family matters? What are the moving boundaries between what is private and where the state can become involved?

One section of the readings for this course will be drawn from recent and classical works in social anthropology on China, regarding such themes as family relations, elderly care, property, and gender and the law. More broadly, the idea of ‘tradition’ and ‘rural culture’ as being both obstacles to ‘modernity’ and ‘progress’ as well as sources of so called ‘true Chineseness’ will be explored in the context of the ongoing reforms. Another section of the readings will be drawn from Chinese legal scholars and anthropologists of law.

In addition to academic social sciences resources, this course will also utilise some field materials, collected by the instructor, such as policy and legal documents and public circulars. This will allow for some discussion on style, vocabulary, and modes of reasoning in the texts and conversations, depending also on the interests of the class. It is also encouraged that students bring current examples of the topics discussed to share with the group (or include it in the presentation). This can include multimedia sources such as podcasts, films or blogposts in English or Chinese.