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SoSe 21: Contentious Politics in China

Maria Bondes

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Opportunities for public participation and political activity are severely limited in an authoritarian state like China. Since President Xi Jinping came to power in 2013, China’s political climate has cooled down and spaces for political action have become even smaller. In such a highly controlled political environment, how do ordinary Chinese articulate their needs and preferences and press for attention to their grievances? How do they organize collective action and conduct contentious activities? And how does the party-state respond to popular contention? This course introduces students to the dynamics of contention and the politics of repression and accommodation in contemporary China. Students will gain a nuanced understanding of how individuals and social groups in China mobilize political action and how they negotiate the constantly shifting boundaries of the politically permissible. At the same time, students will learn to critically reflect how concepts employed to study social movements and contentious politics – concepts often developed in Western democratic contexts – help (or fail to help) us understand the logic of popular political action in an authoritarian setting like China. By studying these questions, students will also gain a deeper understanding of the broader dynamics of state-society relations in China. The course will approach these issues through weekly readings, in-class group exercises and discussion rounds. All course materials will be in English, the class language will be German. close