Questions politiques d'actualité en Chine

China's "great transformation" and the challenges of power (economic, socio-economic, environmental, governance issues; Inter-ethnic relations; Hong Kong, Taiwan, etc.). Nature and description of the Chinese political regime (organization ans structure of the Party/State; forms of legitimacy/legitimation; Political ideas and currents of thought present in China; question of democratization of the regime; alternative model (s)?; existence of a "civil society" in China and civil society actors (intellectuals, medias, youth, NOG, etc.).

At the end of this course, students will be able to:

° Analyze the various developments and challenges facing contemporary China;

° Analyze the structure, organization and mode of operation the Chinese State-party system

° Analyze the responses, instruments and strategies that the PCC mobilizes in the face of these challenges but also to maintain its monopoly on power;

° Be aware of the political forces and currents of political thought present in contemporary China;

° To discuss alternative political models proposed in contemporary China by Chinese intellectuals;

° To better know, understand and analyse the place, the role -but also the limits- of the actors from the "civil society" in the current transformations;

° To mobilize new theoretical concepts applicable to the Chinese case but also to other countries.

Ex cathedra course (8 sessions/3 hours). The course may be accompanied by readings and conferences on specific topics (guest speakers) to complete the teaching.

Contribution to the teaching profile

Since the adoption of economic reforms by Deng Xiaoping in 1979, China has experienced upheavals of unparalleled speed in the history of mankind. At the beginning of the 21st century, it impresses because of the meteoric rise that has projected it in three decades in the forefront (in PPP) among the world's economies. China is hailed as the world's most dynamic economy, regional and global economic and financial power, a magnet for investment but also now a major exporter of capital. But this "great transformation" underway -to use an expression of Hungarian economist and historian Karl Polanyi- has changed not only its economy. It is the whole Chinese society that is deeply upset by this process, process which is still underway and has not produced only positive effects. China is now a country in motion and in complete mutation, crossed by contradictions and facing major challenges, which the Chinese Communist Party in power since 1949 is well aware of. The course, after taking stock of the evolution of China since the adoption of the reforms by Deng Xiaoping and reviewing the multiple challenges that the Chinese regime faces, will focus on the means and tools the CCP use to maintain its monopoly on power. He will also be interested in the dynamics of change and on the actors from the civil society. The topics discussed in the context of the teaching are chosen according to their relevance for students in political science but also their importance for understanding the current and future political developments of Contemporary China. The teaching has an empirical and theoretical orientation since it mobilizes concepts and researches stemming from political science but also from sociology, anthropology, economics, sinology, history of ideas, etc., in an multidisciplinary approach.

Contacts

kellner4@hotmail.com

Thierry.Kellner@ulb.ac.be

Method(s) of evaluation

• Other

Other

Oral Examination (in French)

Mark calculation method (including weighting of intermediary marks)

Presence at the teaching is mandatory. The mark is based on the oral examination.

Language(s) of evaluation

• french