The Social History of China after Mao

Undergraduate / Graduate

China has been in the "post-Mao" era for 50 years (or 48 years, if we take 1978, not 1976, as the turning point) - longer than the Mao or Republican eras (27 and 38 years), respectively). The post-Mao years have seen unprecedented economic growth, the transformation of a predominantly rural into an advanced industrial society, the lifting of millions out of poverty, the formation of a new working class composed of rural migrants and laid-off urban workers, and the rapid rise of inequality. China went through several severe crises: it is easy to forget that in the 1990s, the central government seemed to be losing control over the coastal provinces and observers predicted the imminent breakup of the country. Topics covered include the socialist legacy (state owenership of enterprises, the danwei and hukou system), the events around Mao's death, rural economic reforms (household responsibility system, township and village enterprises), urban reforms (SPecial Economic Zones, new labor laws, privatization), rural-urban migrations and its consequences, the Tiananmen protests, China's accession to the WTO, the 1997 and 2008 financial crises, and the recentralization of economy and society under Xi Jinping. While the focus is on large structural changes in society and economy, we will also discuss changes in gender norms and family life, and cultural change more broadly. All readings will be in English.