150131 UE Chinese Countryside in Transformation (M6) (2021S)
Continuous assessment of course work
Labels
Registration/Deregistration
Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).
- Registration is open from Mo 08.02.2021 10:00 to We 24.02.2021 10:00
- Deregistration possible until Fr 26.03.2021 23:59
Details
max. 25 participants
Language: English
Lecturers
Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N
Due to corona regulations, this course is taught synchronously online.
Thursday
04.03.
15:00 - 17:00
Digital
Thursday
11.03.
15:00 - 17:00
Digital
Thursday
18.03.
15:00 - 17:00
Digital
Thursday
25.03.
15:00 - 17:00
Digital
Thursday
15.04.
15:00 - 17:00
Digital
Thursday
22.04.
15:00 - 17:00
Digital
Tuesday
27.04.
17:00 - 19:00
Digital
Thursday
29.04.
15:00 - 17:00
Digital
Tuesday
04.05.
17:00 - 19:00
Digital
Thursday
06.05.
15:00 - 17:00
Digital
Tuesday
11.05.
17:00 - 19:00
Digital
Thursday
20.05.
15:00 - 17:00
Digital
Thursday
27.05.
15:00 - 17:00
Digital
Information
Aims, contents and method of the course
Assessment and permitted materials
The following skills will be assessed:
- Critical academic reading. Locating the main arguments in academic publications, comparing and contrasting them;
- Empirical knowledge. Temporalising the main stages of Chinese rural development in the post-collective period; recognising the trends of power relations and resource distribution among the actors involved;
- Theoretical knowledge. Relating the main recent developments in the Chinese countryside to academic debates on the politics of development and agrarian change.
Materials used will predominantly be secondary sources (academic and journalistic articles, documentaries), but also some primary sources (blog/social network entries) dealing with rural development in China.
- Critical academic reading. Locating the main arguments in academic publications, comparing and contrasting them;
- Empirical knowledge. Temporalising the main stages of Chinese rural development in the post-collective period; recognising the trends of power relations and resource distribution among the actors involved;
- Theoretical knowledge. Relating the main recent developments in the Chinese countryside to academic debates on the politics of development and agrarian change.
Materials used will predominantly be secondary sources (academic and journalistic articles, documentaries), but also some primary sources (blog/social network entries) dealing with rural development in China.
Minimum requirements and assessment criteria
Minimum requirement to pass the course is the satisfactory fulfilment of each of these parts:
- Active participation in class (10%). Do the readings for each session and participate in discussions and activities.
- Presentation in class (30%). Present the content of one article from the reading list OR compare and contrast two articles with differing arguments.
- Homework (20%). Summarise the contents of 2 articles from the reading list or answer questions on selected readings.
- Final essay (40%). Elaborate a research question on the topics treated in the course and develop it in an essay which can be shaped as a literature review or a research project proposal. The research questions can be discussed any time with the lecturer.The maximum tolerated absence is for 3 sessions. Absences have to be communicated in advance whenever possible and exceptions have to be discussed with the lecturer.
- Active participation in class (10%). Do the readings for each session and participate in discussions and activities.
- Presentation in class (30%). Present the content of one article from the reading list OR compare and contrast two articles with differing arguments.
- Homework (20%). Summarise the contents of 2 articles from the reading list or answer questions on selected readings.
- Final essay (40%). Elaborate a research question on the topics treated in the course and develop it in an essay which can be shaped as a literature review or a research project proposal. The research questions can be discussed any time with the lecturer.The maximum tolerated absence is for 3 sessions. Absences have to be communicated in advance whenever possible and exceptions have to be discussed with the lecturer.
Examination topics
The preparation for each session will normally involve the reading of 1-2 articles which will be presented and analysed during class.The lecturer is available throughout the course for questions and/or further input. Send an email to: francesco.zaratin@univie.ac.at or Skype at francesco.zaratin
Reading list
Suggested introductory material:
- Chen, Jia-Ching, Zinda, John Aloysius, and Yeh, Emily Ting. "Recasting the Rural: State, Society and Environment in Contemporary China." Geoforum 78 (2017): 83-88
- Grace, Carrie, “The Fastest Changing Place on Earth”, (2011) BBC Documentary
- Zhang, Qian Forrest, Oya, Carlos, and Ye, Jingzhong. "Bringing Agriculture Back In: The Central Place of Agrarian Change in Rural China Studies." Journal of Agrarian Change 15.3 (2015): 299-313All the sources used will be uploaded on Moodle.
- Chen, Jia-Ching, Zinda, John Aloysius, and Yeh, Emily Ting. "Recasting the Rural: State, Society and Environment in Contemporary China." Geoforum 78 (2017): 83-88
- Grace, Carrie, “The Fastest Changing Place on Earth”, (2011) BBC Documentary
- Zhang, Qian Forrest, Oya, Carlos, and Ye, Jingzhong. "Bringing Agriculture Back In: The Central Place of Agrarian Change in Rural China Studies." Journal of Agrarian Change 15.3 (2015): 299-313All the sources used will be uploaded on Moodle.
Association in the course directory
PR 220
Last modified: Fr 12.05.2023 00:17
As a result, rural China’s landscape and population are becoming increasingly heterogeneous. Whereas somewhere development passes through urbanisation and scaling up of the agriculture, somewhere else villages are turned into high-end designer hamlets for rural tourism. Peasants become at times migrant workers, waged agricultural labourers or small entrepreneurs.
This course aims to outline and make sense of these different trends by looking at the actors involved, i.e. the State, business actors, peasants and local elites. How have their roles and the power dynamics among them been changing in the course of development? How have their conceptions and visions of “the rural” been shaped and re-shaped?The course will:
- Outline the main stages of China’s rural development since the reform and opening, with a particular focus on the last two decades;
- Analyse the roles that the countryside has taken up as a living and production space in China;
- Outline and discuss the main academic debates on the distribution of resources (capital, land, labour) and power relations among State, business, peasants and local elites in rural development.
At the end of the course students are expected to be able to gain empirical knowledge on central plans and local implementation of rural development in China and critically engage with the theoretical debates on the politics of development and agrarian change.N.B. The language used in this course is English.