Corsi di Studio del Dipartimento di Culture, Politica e Società

ECONOMY AND SOCIETY IN CONTEMPORARY CHINA

ECONOMY AND SOCIETY IN CONTEMPORARY CHINA

Anno accademico 2022/2023

While introducing new knowledge and concepts aimed at encouraging critical analysis and problematisation of the socioeconomic development of contemporary China, key historical, social and cultural dynamics will also be reviewed, in order to ensure full participation and understanding by all students.
Therefore, no specific prerequisites are required.

Sommario insegnamento

• Obiettivi formativi
• Risultati dell'apprendimento attesi
• Modalità di insegnamento
• Modalità di verifica dell'apprendimento
• Attività di supporto
• Programma
• Testi consigliati e bibliografia
• Note
• Strumenti didattici

Obiettivi formativi

The Economy and Society in Contemporary China course builds on other courses within the China & Global Studies concentration offered by the Corso di Laurea Magistrale in Scienze Internazionali, with the aim of providing disciplinary knowledge and skills for the study of China's political, social and economic development.

Specifically, the Economy and Society in Contemporary China course will help students better understand China’s economic development since the beginning of the reforms era in the late 1970s, the interplay of economic development and ecological sustainability, and social factors affecting economic development and environmental protection.

The course contributes to the training of future professionals pursuing careers in Multinational Corporations (MNCs), environmental NGOs, diplomacy, consultancy and academic/policy research.

Risultati dell'apprendimento attesi

The Economy and Society in Contemporary China course will aim to:

(a) help students develop a critical understanding of China’s economic development and environmental governance, as well as the interaction between the country’s economic development and environmental condition in different policy areas;

(b) enable students to compare and contrast the Chinese (including the professor's) and Western interpretations of China’s economic development and environmental governance. Students will develop an ability to analyze critically how the differences in interpretations and perspectives might reflect comprehensively China’s economic development and environmental governance;

(c) help improve the students' capacity to present (both orally and in written form) their views on key issues regarding China’s economic development and environmental governance, by means of classroom activities (discussions, quizzes, presentations, and role plays), and written assignments.

Modalità di insegnamento

The course is to be conducted with a mixture of lectures, discussions, role plays, quizzes, and writing assignments. Video clips will be used to illustrate key concepts and dynamics through visual support.

Modalità di verifica dell'apprendimento

Class attendance is strongly recommended. Students are expected to have completed each week’s required reading assignments before class. Participation in discussions is an essential part of the class.

Group presentation 10/30

 All students are required to deliver one presentation in groups. The size of each group will be determined according to the number of students enrolled in the course. Please keep in mind relatively equal division of labor within your group.

The presentation consists of:

• a presentation summary handout (one page), including a list of consulted works, to be distributed to the instructor and other students before the presentation takes place;
• an oral presentation of about 10 minutes, with a Q&A session with the audience at the end, including comments from the instructor.

For commenting on readings, please follow instruction in the following paragraph:

You need to indicate the strength and weakness of the article (if you are unable to indicate the weakness, at least to indicated the strength of it), and spell the reasons, i.e. why you believe they are strong or weak. You should also present three quotes that you think are significant, and spell the reasons why you think so.

The criteria for a good presentation:

• analytical skills must be shown in the presentation, with reference to the logic and nuance of arguments presented, as well as the ability to get others involved (an effective way of achieving this is presenting questions at the end of the presentation);
• the preparation for the presentation, which can be seen from the quality of the data that have been selected (they need to be significant and up-to-date);
  
  
• the coherence of the presentation

Presentations can either be a review on one or two articles in the bibliography for final exam or a topic on the list of Suggested Topics for Group Presentations (see below). Students must sign up for the presentation in the first week of the course. The instructor will arrange the dates for all presentations.

Suggested Topics for Group Presentations

• Comparing Chinese and European approaches to Africa
• Rationales and global economic impacts of the BRI
• Will China’s economic rise be permanent?
• Examining current China-U.S. technological competition
• Does the U.S. want to de-couple with China economically and technologically? Is the de-coupling feasible in the long run?
• China’s role in East Asian regionalization
• Mainland China - Taiwan economic integration and social dis-integration
• The changing roles of Hong Kong and Shanghai in China’s economic development
• Economic and social implications of China’s carbon zero target
• The interplay of China’s climate goal and energy reality
• Economic, environmental and social impacts of China’s urbanization
• Economic and social prospects of an aging China

Final essays: 20/30

Two final essays should be produced, each of at least 2,000 words. On exam day, four different questions will be offered to the candidates, out of which each student may choose two. The essays will be each written responding to one of these two questions. The allocated time for writing will be 3 hours.

The topics treated in the questions will reflect the issues and reading materials discussed during the course.

The quality of the essays will be determined according to the following criteria:

• analytical skills, with reference to the depth of the analysis provided in the essay;
• the originality of the student’s view;
• the effective use of data.

Attività di supporto

The instructor will be available for office hours immediately after each class; students wishing to make an appointment should inform the instructor at the start of class.

Programma

Four main themes are tackled during this 54-hour course:

1. the sustainability of China's rise: the more pessimistic assumptions of economic stagnation or decline will be discussed from a variety of perspectives, integrating economic, environmental, social, and geopolitical factors.
   
   
2. China’s climate change policy and especially the feasibility of the country’s 2060 carbon zero objective, analyzing economic and social impacts.
   
   
3. The economic, political and strategic rationales of Western (esp. US) de-coupling from China, as well as the long-term feasibility of such policy trajectory.
   
   
4. The impact of recent international developments, such as the war in Ukraine and China’s new diplomacy in the Middle East, on the reshaping the of structure and dynamics of China’s energy security.

Busch, C. et al, China’s Carbon Neutral Opportunity, Energy Innovation Policy and Technology LLC, Jan. 2021, pp. 1-39

Capri, A., Strategic US-China Decoupling in the Tech Sector, Hinrich Foundation, 2020, pp. 1-27

CRS (Congressional Research Service), China’s Economic Rise, 2019, pp. 1-42

Cunningham, E., The State and the Firm: China’s Energy Governance in Context, GEGI Working Paper, Mar. 2015, pp. 1-44

ESCAP (United nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific), China’s Economic Transformation: Impacts on Asia and the Pacific, 2019, pp. 1-13

Lewis, J. et al, Assessing China’s Energy and Climate Goals, Center for American Progress, 2021, pp. 1-30

Meidan, M., The Russian Invasion of Ukraine and China’s Energy markets, Oxford Energy Comment, 2022, pp. 1-7

Rajah, R. et al, Revising down the Rise of China, 2022, pp. 1-60

Schoff, J. L., et al, Competing with China on Technology and Innovation, 2019, pp. 1-17

Stahl, A. K., "Contrasting Rhetoric and Converging Security Interests of the European Union and China in Africa", Journal of Current Chinese Affairs, Volume 40, Issue 4, 2019, pp. 1-56

Wang, L., "Sea Lanes and Chinese National Energy Security", Journal of Coastal Research, Winter 2015, pp. 572-577

Xie, H., "China’s Oil Security in the Context of Energy Revolution", American Journal of Industrial and Business Management, 2021 (11) pp. 984-1008

Zhang, T., 2008, "Good governance vs. effective governance: the European and Chinese approaches with Africa", in China-Europe-Africa Cooperation: 6^th Shanghai Workshop on Global Governance, Shanghai Institute for International Studies and Friedrich-Ebert Stiftung, Shanghai, Mar. 2008, pp. 129-134

Note

The course is scheduled to beging on Feb. 20th, 2023. On account of the residual difficulties in international travel, and of the instructor's need to travel from China, there may be minor delays in the start of the course. Should such delays indeed materialise, students will be informed here. 

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