This course considers what we mean when we talk about the “modernization” of state and society in the Chinese context. The first section introduces the post-war, “classical” modernization literature, a body of work that developed primarily within an American academic context shaped strongly by political power and purpose. We consider the key theses in this literature as well as the deep critiques this paradigm has generated. Focus then shifts to critical engagement with the Communist Party’s own modernization discourse in connection with current scholarly debate, within and outside China, regarding the so-called “China Model” of development. close