POLS 386, “Comparative Political Thought”
Fall 2007, MW 2-3:50, Chamberlain 126
Instructor: John Rapp, MI 208, ext. 2335, email: rappja@beloit.edu
Office hours: MWF 9-11:50, MW 2-2:40; TTH 11-11:50, 2-2:40
Course Description
In the first edition of this new capstone seminar, we will examine the theme of "comparative dissent" applied to various thinkers and countries. What is unique about each dissenting thinker or tendency of dissent from particular orthodox traditions, and what patterns of dissent are shared across time and space? How do scholars and others determine the dividing line between orthodox and dissident thought and how does the line often get blurred in practice?
In the first half of the course the instructor will lead discussion of Chinese heterodox thinkers from ancient times to the present, including comparisons to Western European and American thinkers. Figures we will examine in the first half of the course include radical Daoists and utopian Confucians in ancient and medieval China, May Fourth era iconoclasts of the early 20th century, radical Red Guards of the Cultural Revolution, and Democracy Wall and Tian’anmen activists of the contemporary era. We will examine fiction writers, poets, playwrights, philosophers, historians, film directors, and others in China’s long history who challenged official ideology and/or actual rulers.
In the second half of the course students will each assign readings and lead discussion one week on a topic of their own choosing related to their research projects. The instructor or students may bring in guest lecturers where appropriate. Each student will be expected to produce a research prospectus and multiple drafts of a major research paper (20-40 pages) on a particular political dissident or tradition of dissent in some epoch and region of the world, with the best papers being nominated for the spring student symposium and/or honors in political science.
Readings, 1st Module
This course has a heavy reading load. For the first module, all readings will come from the following texts, all placed on reserve.
Andrew, Anita M., and John A. Rapp. Autocracy and China’s Rebel Founding Emperors: Comparing Chairman Mao and Ming Taizu. Lanham, MD: Rowman
and Littlefield Press, 2000.
Angle, Stephen C., and Marina Svensson (eds.). The Chinese Human Rights Reader: Documents and Commentary 1900-2000. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 2001.
Balazs, Etienne. Chinese Civilisation and Bureaucracy: Variations on a Theme. New
Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1964.
Barmé, Geremie, and Linda Jaivin (eds.). New Ghosts, Old Dreams: Chinese Rebel Voices. NY: Times Books, 1992.
Barmé, Geremie, and John Minford (eds.). Seeds of Fire: Chinese Voices of Conscience. New York: Hill and Wang, 1988.
Bauer, Wolfgang. China and the Search for Happiness: Recurring Themes in Four Thousand Years of Chinese Cultural History. NY: Seabury Press, 1976.
Benton, Gregor, and Alan Hunter (eds.). Wild Lily, Prairie Fire: China’s Road to Democracy, Yan’an to Tian’anmen 1942-1989. Princeton: Princeton University
Press, 1995.
Buruma, Ian. Bad Elements: Chinese Rebels from Los Angeles to Beijing. NY:
Random House, 2001.
Chan, Anita, Stanley Rosen, and Jonathan Unger (eds.). On Socialist Democracy and the Chinese Legal System: The Li Yizhe Debates. White Plains, NY: M.E. Sharpe,
1985.
Chase, Michael S., and James C. Mulvenon, You've Got Dissent. Rand Corporation,
2002.
Diamond, Larry, and Marc F. Plattner (eds.). Democracy in East Asia. Baltimore: The
John Hopkins University Press, 1998.
Graham, A.C. Disputers of the Tao: Philosophical Argument in Ancient China. La Salle, IL: Open Court Publishing Co., 1989.
Nathan, Andrew. Chinese Democracy. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996.
Needham, Joseph. Science and Civilisation in China. Vol. 2. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1956.
Rapp, John A (1998). “Daoism and Anarchism Reconsidered.” Anarchist Studies 6
(1998): 123-151.
Tan Shilin (trans. and annotator). The Complete Works of Tao Yuanming. Hong Kong:
Joint Publishing Co., 1992.
Wang Ruoshui, “Discussing the Problem of Alienation.” Chinese Studies in Philosophy XVI: 3 (Spring 1985): 25-38.
Watson, Burton (trans.). The Complete Works of Chuang Tzu. NY: Columbia
University Press, 1970.
Course Schedule
| Week 1 |
| Seminar structure and requirements; |
| Introduction to Chinese Political Culture and State Tradition; |
| Anti-Autocratic Thinkers in Pre-Imperial China |
| Readings: |
| required: Bauer, 3-8, 11-49; Diamond, 42-46, 51-54 (de Bary); Graham, 1-8, 53-74,170-174, 292-311; Rapp (1998), 123-134; Watson, 98-113, 309-352; |
| background: Bauer, 49-66, 91-92; Graham, 9-53, 174-211, 215-235; Needham, 100-132 |
| Week 2 |
| Dissent in Imperial China, Han to Qing Dynasties: |
| Anti-Manchu sentiment; Self-Strengthening Movement; Taiping rebel ideology; 100 |
| Days reformers; constitutional monarchists |
| Readings: |
| required: Barmé and Jaivin, 136-7; Bauer, 77-87, 92-4, 110-128, 131-52, 189-95, 205-39, 258-70; 273-329; Diamond, 46-51 (de Bary); Rapp (1998), 135-48; Nathan, Chapters 3-4 |
| background: Balazs, 187-254; Bauer, 69-77, 95-109, 153-202, 240-257; Needham, 432-436; Tan Shilin, 96-99 |
| Week 3 |
| Early 20th Century Revolutionary Thought: Sun Yatsen and rise of Chinese republicanism and nationalism; Chinese anarcho-communists; early Chinese Marxistsand other socialists; May Fourth and New Culture Movements |
| Readings: |
| required: Angle and Svensson, selections 2, 5-9, 17-18; Bauer, 87-88, 330-389; Barmé and Jaivin, 119-135, 340-354, 401-405 |
| Week 4 |
| Dissent from KMT and CCP Orthodoxy, 1927-1949; |
| Early PRC Heterodoxy: 1949-1959 |
| Readings: |
| required: Bauer, pp. 389-399 Barmé and Jaivin, 358-362; Benton and Hunter, 1-17, 69-103; Nathan, Chapters 6-8; Angle and Svensson, selections 34-37 |
| background: Angle and Svensson, selections 20-33 |
| Week 5 |
| Taking Mao Seriously: Great Leap and Cultural Revolution Heterodoxy; |
| Voices of the Wounded: Post-Mao Democracy Movement, 1976 to 1980 |
| Readings: |
| required: Benton and Hunter, 17-21, 104-156; Andrew and Rapp, 231-235, 259-274 (Mao Zedong and Ma Yanwen); Bauer, 399-420; Benton and Hunter, 21-29, 157-263;Nathan, Chapters 1-2, 5, 10; Barmé and Minford, 117-130, 137-148, |
| background: Chan et al., 1-105, 133-156, and notes, 261-284; Angle and Svensson, selections 39-42 |
| Weeks 6-7 |
| Extra-Party Dissent on the Road to Tian’anmen, 1981-1989; |
| Post Tian’anmen: Is Chinese Dissent Passé?; Internet dissent; Dissent in Greater Chinaand Beyond |
| Readings: |
| required: Benton and Hunter, 29-39, 264-298; Barmé and Minford, Chapters 1, 11, 13-14 (selections tba); Barmé and Jaivin, Introduction, Section I (tba); Buruma, pages tba; Chan, et al, selections tba; Chase and Mulvenon, pages tba; Wang Ruoshui |
| background: Angle and Svensson, selections 47-49; 50-56, 62-63; Barmé and Jaivin,191-320, 323-339, 374-401, 408-471 |
| Internet: CNN, “Tian’anmen Revisited,” at: http://us.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/tiananmen/; Liu Junning, “Classical Liberalism Catches On in China,” Journal of Democracy 11:3 (July 2000): 48-57, oncampus online at: http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/journal_of_democracy/v011/11.3junning.html |
| Weeks 8-14 |
| Student presentations, readings to be announced |
Assignments, Grading and Other Course Policies
The grade for this course will be based on class participation, the oral presentation of the research paper, and the paper itself. First, each student will pick one week in the first module to help the seminar leader lead discussion of the readings. Second, each student will write a 20-40 page research paper on a specific dissident thinker or movement, citing at least 20 non-web sources. Third, each student will assign readings and lead discussion on their paper one week during the second module. The grade will be distributed as follows:
| 1st draft of paper: |
25% |
due one week before presentation |
| 2nd draft of paper: |
25% |
Due December 13 |
| Discussion leading: |
25% |
|
| Participation: |
25% |
|
All assignments must be completed. Late papers without documented medical or family emergencies reported to the instructor in advance if at all possible will be graded down one step for every day late, with an F, 0% after three days late. No computer related excuses of any kind will be accepted. Attendance is essential to the grade for this course, so after three unexcused absences or tardiness of more than five minutes, the participation grade will be a 0. That being said, there may be good reasons for absences, including special religious observances, athletic or performance events, family emergencies, and/or health problems. All students are encouraged to see the instructor individually to let him know ahead of time in the case of scheduled events or holidays, and as soon as possible in the case of family emergencies or illness.
If you have a disability and would like to speak to someone about possible accommodations, please visit the LSSC (Learning Support Services Center) located on the first floor of 635 College St. You will need to provide appropriate documentation of your disability to Diane Arnzen, Director of the LSSC. If you wish to receive accommodations in my class please provide me the LSSC Accommodation Verification Letter, dated for this semester, as soon as possible so your learning needs may be appropriately met.
Style, spelling, grammar, and punctuation do count on all written assignments. Standards of academic honesty will be strictly upheld according to official Beloit College policy. All written and oral work should be original, and information gleaned from written and interview sources should be cited properly and consistently according to a recognized style manual. Websites will not count toward minimum number of sources and in any case must have clear authors and dates, as well as web addresses.
