Module SGIA3601: China in the Asian Century: Domestic Challenges, Global Rise.

Department: Government and International Affairs

SGIA3601: China in the Asian Century: Domestic Challenges, Global Rise.

Prerequisites

• Any Level 2 SGIA module

Corequisites

• None

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None

Aims

• To provide students with an in-depth knowledge and understanding of how China’s domestic challenges influence its international rise. This will be done through the in-depth assessment of China’s key domestic challenges as well as its major foreign policy initiatives which signal China’s rise as a dominant regional and global power.
• To provide students with an in-depth understanding of how theoretical approaches have been, or could be, applied to the study of key contemporary issues in the Chinese domestic and international politics.
• To enable students to critically evaluate leading scholarship in the field of Chinese politics.

Content

• Indicative module content addresses:
• Chinese state-building;
• Nationalism and ethnic tensions;
• Chinese authoritarian governance model and elite politics;
• State-society relations in China;
• The labour relations and political economy in China;
• The environmental degradation and transition to ‘green’ policies;
• China’s place in East Asian regional order;
• China’s globalisation project through Belt and Road Initiative, the adaptation to IR norms and expansion of China’s global normative power; and the role of China’s rise in development of IR theories.

Learning Outcomes

• Knowledge and understanding of the relationship between China’s domestic contestations and its growing interactions with the outside world;
• Knowledge and understanding of the dimensions of political and social change in contemporary China in general terms of ideology, organisation, elite politics, state-society relations and political economy.
• Knowledge and understanding of the theory and concepts of social science that shape and inform our understanding of societies undergoing rapid change, and their application to the specific dimensions of change in the PRC’s domestic and foreign policy;
• Knowledge and understanding of the impact of these domestic developments on China’s foreign policy and its behaviour in international relations, with the application of appropriate IR theories.

• On satisfying the requirements for this module students will be able to:
• Demonstrate a balanced understanding of the relationship between China’s domestic contestations and its growing interactions with the outside world;
• Utilise advanced scholarly resources, statistics and materials to establish sound academic judgement about the process and construction of China’s domestic and international political developments;
• Apply relevant theories, concepts, and historical frames of reference to contemporary political, economic, and strategic developments in the particular country-context;
• Communicate their understanding about Chinese domestic politics, foreign policy, and broader international relations in a clear and concise way through assignments, oral presentations, and class participation.

• Demonstrate a critical approach to the content of the module and a capacity to defend this intellectually;
• Demonstrate independent thought in analysing and critiquing existing scholarship on the subject area and in evaluating its contribution;
• Demonstrate independent learning within a defined framework of study
• Demonstrate the ability to work to a deadline and complete written work within word limits;
• Demonstrate high levels of research skills using a wide range of scholarly resources, including a creative use of library and internet sources, and the ability to accurately assess the suitability and quality of the resources;
• Show flexibility in using knowledge and subject specific skills to meet the specific demands of the module;
• Demonstrate self-direction and responsibility in producing a group summative assignment (presentation).

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Students are taught through lectures and seminars evolving around 9 themes. Lectures introduce the main theoretical, conceptual and empirical frameworks for the study of China’s domestic and international politics for each theme, and are designed to ensure that students with differential knowledge levels approach the subsequent seminars with an appropriate level of understanding.
• Seminars develop students’ skills in communication and argumentation. Discussion and debate deepen students’ knowledge and understanding of different points and perspectives.
• Students are encouraged to submit a 1500-word formative group report to allow for written feedback before the summative group report is submitted. The group report will be on one of the topics covered in the Michaelmas term. This assessment is designed to give students the chance to reflect in collaborative manner on China’s domestic politics. The chosen topic cannot be the same as in the subsequent group project.
• Students are required to submit a summative essay of 3,000 words at the end of the module. This enables them to demonstrate their subject knowledge and scholarly writing skills.
• Teamwork represents a key transferable skill. Seminar strategic report will grant students’ with innovative, transferable skill of report-writing focused on policy recommendation and analytical assessment of a chosen topic in China’s domestic politics or international relations. Students will work together to develop such a report, and in order to ensure fare division of labour, they will be asked to assess each other’s input.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

The formative assessment for the module consists of a group strategy, a 1,500 words report in relation to some of the key challenges discussed in the lectures and the seminars in the first part of the module ('Domestic challenges').

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University