Contemporary Chinese Society

4.0 credits

This course adopts an anthropological approach towards understanding the dramatic socio-cultural transformations that have followed in the wake of China’s post-Mao economic reforms. What happens when a society officially committed to economic and gender equality witnesses the rise of stark social divisions? Beginning with an historical overview of the key features of the Maoist and post-Mao periods, we will move on to examine such issues as the creation of a market economy, the rise of new social classes, rural to urban migration, changing ideologies of gender and sexuality, new attitudes towards education and work, transformations in family life, religious revival and conversion, and the influences of global popular culture and mass consumption, with an eye towards identifying both continuities and departures from the Maoist era. Throughout our discussions we will consider the implications of these changes for China’s political, social, and economic futures.