Shifting State Power

Socialist and reform period are mostly the questions

–          How has the Chinese state been conceptualized by the West?

o   1949, CPP and state have different history understanding. After PRC gain controlled, China was mainly isolated by the world. Western countries feel hard to understand their political structure. They need to rely on secondary sources to study it. they observe the social life and people there or even read some published report. Westerners come with hypothesis of how socialist may work or not.

o   1950s: The theory of totalitarianism was popular in understanding socialist states.

§  brain-wash people,

§  cold war: the political dynamic between socialist and capitalist

o   1960s-1970s: the factional model and interest groups theory

§  political theories (factional model, interest groups theory)

§  This period china was under Cultural Revolution, the struggle between power and political group.

§  focus on top leadership and how divided state fight into control.

§  other researchers study how bureaucracy , political leader interact with society.

o   since 1980s: a processual approach ( or “ social intertexture” discussed by Shue)

§  Period full of changes.

§  Social intertexture (32): incorporate changes along with policy.

§  China opens up to outside world.

§  Reality of china is changing. in china, the boundary of state and country become blur and isn’t easy to draw

§  the state nowadays has less country for some domain. butits wrong to assume that the state is backing down their power. the censorship still remain strong.

o   2. Post-Mao state-society dynamics

§  re-treat of the state?

§  capital socialism: a new kind of social and economic formation in which bureaucratic, market , and personal spheres are mutually embedded. ( The phenomenon of Chuangshou (創收)). you create income in non-conventional way. if you stay in hospital, you were hired to mainly treat money. but with Chuangshou, you would engage in other stuff to gain more. (45-51)

–          What is the relationship between state and society under mao and after mao? What are the significant changes over time?

–          What is the nature of state power in a period of marketization and commercialization?

Today, with the rise of China on the global stage, what is your perception of the Chinese state power?

Discussion:

–          give examples for the broader ideas.

–          one example should be included from either readings or film

–          general sense of history

–          rural land reform: the transformation of Chinese revolution.

o   describe transformation of rural china

o   Deng?

–          introduction summarize of what imgonna talk about. the rest body paragraph talks about examples and analysis.