Demography of China
The first of its kind in Canada, SOC 290 Demography of China will discuss the central features of China’s transformation into a global power. Such features include China’s modern history events, economic models, state-society relations, urbanization processes, and population governance strategies.
Prerequisites: 2nd year standing required
Course Objectives
- To establish China competency from a broad sociological point of view among CUE students and expand their world outreach.
- To provide CUE students the opportunity to understand contemporary Chinese society, politics, and economy, and the governance models that led to China’s transformation into a global power.
- To equip CUE students, especially business and management students, with specific knowledge and practical strategies to improve the business relationship between Canadian and Chinese firms and partners.
Lecture Topics
China 101
- Village and town life in China during Imperial times
The Communist Revolution (1949)
- The Communist Revolution: Agrarian Reform and the Recreation of New Social Categories
The Effects of the Communist Revolution on Chinese Society
- A Century of Change in Lengshuigou Village
- Changes in Village Politics and Village Elites
- Changes in the City: a new elite?
- Communist Policies Going Off Track (part 1): the “Great Leap Forward” and the “Great famine”
- Communist Policies Model Going Off Track (part 2): the Household Registration System and the Birth of Rural-Urban Inequality
- Cultural Revolution in the City and Countryside
- Back to Lengshuigou Village: Family and Social Life During Communist (the 1960s)
Changing Gears: China’s Opening Up Policy
- The One-Child Policy: a Strategy of Population Governance
- The “Opening Up” Policy
- The Effects of the “Opening Up” Policy in the Countryside
- The Made in China Era (part 1)
- The Made in China Era (part 2): Stories and Lessons from a Factory in Shanghai
China as a Global Power
- Changes in Family Relations and Social Interactions
- Rethinking Urbanization and the Urban People
- The Future of “Rural China”
- The Future of China as a Global Power and Canada’s Second Most Important Trading Partner
Evaluation
| What | Weight |
| 5 short-answer assignments on the topics discussed in class (homework). | 25% of the total grade |
| Participation in class discussions with questions or comments that demonstrate proficiency in the topic under discussion. Each student must participate in the discussion of at least 5 topics. | 25% |
| 1 research paper (homework) on a topic that intersects the student’s specific major and any of the topic discussed on China. | 25% |
| 1 multiple-choice exam (in class) on the topics discussed in class: 25% of the total grade. | 25% |
To register, please visit SOC 290.