OSHER 882 - China in Transition: Revolution, Modernization, and Militarization - 1949-2023

The past century has been a period of dramatic change for China. The revolutions of 1911 and 1949 and the creation of the People's Republic of China ushered in decades of conflict, transformation, and progress. On alternating weeks this team-taught course will consider the recent political and economic history of China and the diverse people and places of China. Cole Capener will explore recent Chinese history with a particular focus on the Chinese Communist Party and how China as a "party-state" actually operates today. Among the topics to be discussed are how party leaders beginning with Mao Zedong both departed from Marxist (but not Leninist) orthodoxy and still remain faithful to the core concepts of Marxism. This takes us from Deng Xiaoping's famous aphorism: "It doesn't matter whether the cat is black or white as long as it catches the mice" to Xi Jinping's "Thought on Socialism with Chinese characteristics for the new era." It will conclude with a discussion of US-China relations: in crisis or worth fixing? On alternating weeks, Fred Esplin will consider the land, the culture, and the people of China from his travels in China over the past two decades. This will include well-known places like Beijing, the Great Wall, and Xian, but with more emphasis on less well-known places like the Labrang, Bingling, and Kumbum monasteries, the minority villages of southwest China, and the remarkable scenery and people of the Li River Valley in Guizhou Province.