GPAD7304 Seminar on Contemporary Political Theory
2020/21
Instructor: T.W. Ngo (E21-4046)
Time and Venue: Tue 10:00-12:45, E21 G014
Office Hours: Tue 15:00-16:00; Wed 11:00-12:00
Course Objectives
This course deals with different perspectives in contemporary political theory. Students will learn about the conceptual lexicons and analytical tools employed by different theoretical approaches. The course will explore the assumptions, methodologies, and biases deployed by various theoretical perspectives in understanding the same political phenomena. In doing so, students will acquire an advanced knowledge about the nature of political enquiry as well as the strengths and weaknesses of various theoretical approaches.
Assessment
Class participation (20%): This is a seminar course based on group discussion. Attendance is obligatory. Students will be asked to give comments on fellow students’ class essays after each presentation.
Class essay and presentation (30%): Each student is required to write an essay (about 2,000 words) on one of the topics and present it in class. The essay should be uploaded to UM Moodle before Monday of the presentation week. All students should read the essay before coming to class. A hardcopy should be handed in during class.
Final paper (50%): Each student is required to write a final paper (about 4,000 words). The paper should be fully referenced and should be submitted in hardcopy on or before 17:00 on 15 Dec 2020.
Recommended Text
David Marsh and Gerry Stoker eds., Theory and Methods in Political Science, 3rd ed. (New York: Palgrave Macmillan 2010).
Seminar Schedule
8 Sep Introduction
15 Sep The Nature of Political Theory
22 Sep Case Study: The Cultural Revolution
29 Sep Class Debate I
Motion: The Cultural Revolution is a catastrophic mistake in modern Chinese history
6 Oct Class Debate II
Motion: Mao Zedong is the main person to blame for the mischief of the Cultural Revolution
13 Oct Essay Topic I: Behaviouralism
What are the core assumptions of behavioural analysis? What are the strength and weaknesses of behavioural analysis? How effective can we account for the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution in China using behavioural analysis? What findings have been put forward by existing studies that used such an approach? Which aspects of the Cultural Revolution can be perceptively explained and which not?
David Sanders, “Behavioural analysis,” in David Marsh and Gerry Stoker eds., Theory and Methods in Political Science, 3rd ed. (New York: Palgrave Macmillan 2010).
Anita Chan, Children of Mao (Palgrave Macmillan, 1985), ch. 4.
Xiaoxia Gong, “The logic of repressive collective action: a case study of violence in the Cultural Revolution,” in The Chinese Cultural Revolution Reconsidered, ed. Kam-yee Law (New York: Palgrave Macmillan 2003).
Marc Blecher and Gordon White, “Micropolitics in contemporary China,” International Journal of Politics 9:2 (1979), ch. 5.
20 Oct Essay Topic II: Rational Choice
What are the core assumptions of rational choice theory? What are the strength and weaknesses of rational choice theory? How effective can we account for the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution in China using rational choice analysis? What findings have been put forward by existing studies that used such an approach? Which aspects of the Cultural Revolution can be perceptively explained and which not?
Andrew Hindmoor, “Rational choice,” in David Marsh and Gerry Stoker eds., Theory and Methods in Political Science, 3rd ed. (New York: Palgrave Macmillan 2010).
Tang Tsou, “Interpreting the Revolution in China: Macrohistory and Micromechanisms,” Modern China, vol. 26, no. 2 (April 2000), pp. 205-38.
Shaoguang Wang, Failure of Charisma: The Cultural Revolution in Wuhan (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995).
27 Oct Essay Topic III: Institutionalism
What are the core assumptions of the institutional approach? What are the strength and weaknesses of institutionalism? How effective can we account for the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution in China using an institutional analysis? What findings have been put forward by existing studies that used such an approach? Which aspects of the Cultural Revolution can be perceptively explained and which not?
Vivien Lowndes, “The institutional approach,” in David Marsh and Gerry Stoker eds., Theory and Methods in Political Science, 3rd ed. (New York: Palgrave Macmillan 2010).
Lynn T. White III, “The Cultural Revolution as an unintended result of administrative policies,” in New Perspectives on the Cultural Revolution, ed. William Joseph, Christine P.W. Wong, and David Zweig (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Asia Centre, 1991).
Hong Yung Lee, “Historical reflections on the cultural revolution as a political movement,” in The Chinese Cultural Revolution Reconsidered, ed. Kam-yee Law (New York: Palgrave Macmillan 2003).
3 Nov Essay Topic IV: The Marxian Approach
What are the core assumptions of the Marxian approach? What are the strength and weaknesses of Marxian analysis? How effective can we account for the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution in China using a Marxian analysis? What findings have been put forward by existing studies that used such an approach? Which aspects of the Cultural Revolution can be perceptively explained and which not?
Diarmuid Maguire, “Marxism,” in David Marsh and Gerry Stoker eds., Theory and Methods in Political Science, 3rd ed. (New York: Palgrave Macmillan 2010).
Arif Dirlik, “The politics of the Cultural Revolution in historical perspective,” in The Chinese Cultural Revolution Reconsidered, ed. Kam-yee Law (New York: Palgrave Macmillan 2003).
Arif Dirlik, Marxism and the Chinese Revolution (Lanham: Rowman $ Littlefield, 2005), chs. 8 & 9.
Richard Kraus, Class Conflict in Chinese Socialism (New York: Columbia University Press, 1981), chs. 4-7.
UCFML, “Maoism: a stage of Marxism,” Positions, vol. 13, no. 3 (Winter 2005), pp. 515-21.
10 Nov Essay V: Feminism
What are the core assumptions of feminism? What are the strength and weaknesses of the feminist approach? How effective can we account for the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution in China using a feminist analysis? What findings have been put forward by existing studies that used such an approach? Which aspects of the Cultural Revolution can be perceptively explained and which not?
Vicky Randall, “Feminism,” in David Marsh and Gerry Stoker eds., Theory and Methods in Political Science, 3rd ed. (New York: Palgrave Macmillan 2010).
Wenji Yang and Fei Yan, “The annihilation of femininity in Mao’s China: Gender inequality of sent-down youth during the Cultural Revolution,” China Information, vol. 31, no. 1 (March 2017), pp. 63-83.
Emily Honig, “Iron girls revisited: gender and the politics of work in the Cultural Revolution,” in Barbara Entwisle and Gail Henderson eds., Re-Drawing Boundaries: Work, Households and Gender in China (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000).
Emily Honig, “Maoist mappings of gender: reassessing the Red Guards,” in Susan Brownell and Jeffrey Wasserstrom eds., Chinese Feminities/Chinese Musculinities: A Reader (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002).
17 Nov Essay Topic VI: Structural-Functionalism
What are the core assumptions of the structural-functionalism? What are the strength and weaknesses of the structural-functional approach? How effective can we account for the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution in China using a structural-functional analysis? What findings have been put forward by existing studies that used such an approach? Which aspects of the Cultural Revolution can be perceptively explained and which not?
Alexander J. Groth, “Structural functionalism and political development,” Western Political Quarterly, vol. 23, no. 3 (September 1970), pp. 485-99.
Shaoguang Wang, “The structural sources of the Cultural Revolution,” in The Chinese Cultural Revolution Reconsidered, ed. Kam-yee Law (New York: Palgrave Macmillan 2003).
金觀濤、劉青峰， 《開放中的變遷》（香港：香港中文大學，1993）, chs. 1, 6 & 10.
24 Nov Essay Topic VII: Constructivism
What are the core assumptions of the constructivist approach? What are the strength and weaknesses of constructivism? How effective can we account for the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution in China using a constructivist analysis? What findings have been put forward by existing studies that used such an approach? Which aspects of the Cultural Revolution can be perceptively explained and which not?
Craig Parsons, “Constructivism and interpretive theory,” in David Marsh and Gerry Stoker eds., Theory and Methods in Political Science, 3rd ed. (New York: Palgrave Macmillan 2010).
Peter Zarrow, “Meanings of China’s Cultural Revolution,” Positions 7:1 (1999).
Mobo Gao, “Memoirs and interpretation of the Cultural Revolution,” Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars 27:1 (1995).
Anita Chan, “Dispelling misconceptions about the Red Guard Movement,” Journal of Contemporary China 1:1 (1992).
1 Dec Contending Explanations
15 Dec Conclusion
Final Paper Topic
Corruption is rampant in contemporary China. What are the most commonly used approaches employed in the study of corruption in China? What are their major findings? Which approach(es) do you think offer the most insightful understanding about the problem of corruption in contemporary China?
- Teacher: twngo, Ngo Tak Wing