KSCB709 Chinese Society and NGOs

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2017
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Runya Qiaoan, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. Lucie Olivová, MA, Ph.D., DSc.
Department of Chinese Studies – Asia Studies Centre – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Mgr. et Mgr. Dušan Vávra, Ph.D.
Supplier department: Department of Chinese Studies – Asia Studies Centre – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Tue 12:30–14:05 U15
Prerequisites (in Czech)
TYP_STUDIA(N)
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
This course aims to familiarize students with the civil society in China, especially the development of NGOs in recent years. It starts with exploring the concept of civil society and its application to China, then discusses the political, economic and cultural background of Chinese civil society, and it ends with presenting various embodiments of civil society in China, such as NGOs, social movements and mass media.

At the end of the course, student will:
-understand the benefits and limitations of using the term “civil society” to discuss the changes in contemporary Chinese society;
-explain the political, economic and cultural background of Chinese civil society;
-familar with different types of NGOs in China and their relations with the state;
-understand the development of NGOs, social movement and mass media in contemporary China
Syllabus
  • Week 1 Introduction
  • No readings
  • Week 2 Civil Society: history, context and current interpretations
  • “Introduction,” pp. 1-21; “Civil Society and Political Change: An Analytical Framework.” Pp. 25-57. Alagappa, Muthiah. 2004. in Civil Society and Political Change in Asia, edited by Muthiah Alagappa. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
  • Week 3 Civil Society in China: how far can the concept travel?
  • “Introduction: The Ambiguous Challenge of Civil Society” in Brook Timothy and Frolic B. Michael.1997. Civil Society in China. NY: M. E. Sharpe.
  • Week 4 Political Background of Chinese Civil Society
  • Andrew Mertha (2009). “Fragmented Authoritarianism 2.0”: Political Pluralization in the Chinese Policy Process. The China Quarterly, 200, pp 995-1012. Jessica C. Teets (2013). Let Many Civil Societies Bloom: The Rise of Consultative Authoritarianism in China. The China Quarterly, 213, pp 19-38 doi:10.1017/ S0305741012001269
  • Week 5 Economic Background of Chinese Civil Society
  • Howell, Jude. "An Unholy Trinity? Civil Society, Economic Liberalization and Democratization in post‐Mao China." Government and Opposition 33.1 (1998): 56-80.
  • Week 6 Cultural Background of Chinese Civil Society
  • Dingxin Zhao (2010): Theorizing the Role of Culture in Social Movements: Illustrated by Protests and Contentions in Modern China, Social Movement Studies, 9:1, 33-50
  • Week 7 Embodiment of Civil Society in China: NGOs, social movements and mass media
  • “Chapter 13 China: The Limits of Civil Society in a Late Leninist State” pp. 419-454 in Alagappa, Muthiah. 2004. Civil Society and Political Change in Asia, edited by Muthiah Alagappa. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
  • Week 8 Service-oriented NGOs in China
  • Hsu, Jennifer YJ, and Reza Hasmath. "The local corporatist state and NGO relations in China." Journal of Contemporary China 23.87 (2014): 516-534.
  • Week 9 Advocacy-oriented NGOs in China
  • China Development Brief. 2013. An Analysis of the Diverse Forms of Public Advocacy in China.
  • Week 10 NGO-state Relations in China
  • Xiaoguang, Kang, and Han Heng. "Graduated controls: The state-society relationship in contemporary China." Modern China 34.1 (2008): 36-55. Chan, Kin-Man. "Commentary on Hsu: Graduated control and NGO responses: Civil society as institutional logic." (2010): 301-306.
  • Week 11 Protests and Social Movements in China
  • Steinhardt, H. Christoph, and Fengshi Wu. "In the name of the public: environmental protest and the changing landscape of popular contention in China." The China Journal 75.1 (2016): 61-82.
  • Week 12 Mass Media and Other Public Spaces in China
  • Yang, Guobin. "The Internet and civil society in China: A preliminary assessment." Journal of Contemporary China 12.36 (2003): 453-475.
Literature
  • Civil society in China. Edited by Timothy Brook - B. Michael Frolic. London: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2015, xii, 244. ISBN 9780765600912. info
  • CHEN, Jie. Transnational civil society in China : instrusion and impact. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar, 2012, ix, 211. ISBN 9781848448940. info
  • Emerging civil society in China, 1978-2008. Edited by Wang Ming. Boston: Brill, 2011, viii, 397. ISBN 9789004201613. info
Teaching methods
Lectures.
Assessment methods
Requirements:
1) Attendance and active class participation (1 unexcused absence allowed).
2) Position papers on reading assignments.
Students are required to submit position papers every week based on required reading assignments. This adds up to a total of eleven essays throughout the semester. Each position paper should be about 300-500 words.
3) Class presentation. Each student will orally present one position paper and lead the discussion in class. Presentations will be assigned in advance.
4) Final paper. The final paper should be around 10 pages (double-space) and examine a topic related to the theme of this course.
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2019.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2017, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/autumn2017/KSCB709