Module title: Politics in China
Module Leader: Dr Christian Sorace
Module Description:
The People’s Republic of China, governed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is a country with the world’s second largest economy, often referred to as the “workshop” of global capitalism. Some things to consider: the CCP boasts a membership larger than the entire population of Germany. China has a revolutionary past and capitalist present; spectacular urban metropolises like Shanghai and backwater villages; more billionaires than the United States (and only second to the US in millionaires), a growing middle class, but a perhaps even faster growing population of migrant workers and marginalized poor; global power aspirations and domestic crises of stability. Beginning to understand China requires patience, commitment, and atunement to complexity. In this paper, we will delve into the mix and read texts which help us think about China. What kind of an organization is the Communist Party? What are its sources of authority and power? How does it govern? What tools does it have to confront the problems it faces? How does what happens in the Party impact what occurs within not only Chinese society but the world?