Week I: Background
Readings:
Naughton, Barry (2007). “The Geographic Setting.” In The Chinese Economy: Transition and Growth, MIT Press, Chapter 1, 17-32.
Perkins, Dwight H. (2010). “China’s Prereform Economy in World Perspective” In China’s Rise in Historical Perspective, ed. Brantly Womack, New York: Rowman & Littlefield, Chapter 5, 109-127.
Rawski, Evelyn S. “Chinese Strategy and Security Issues in Historical Perspective” In China’s Rise in Historical Perspective, ed. Brantly Womack, 63-87. New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 2010.
Handouts:
2013 Living Maoping, depicted in the video “Living” [shown in class on Fri 11 Jan]
Supplements:
Blum, Susan D. (2000). China’s Many Faces: Ethnic, Cultural, and Religious Pluralism. In: Timothy B. Weston and Lionel M. Jensen, eds., China Beyond the Headlines. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Chapter 3, pp. 69-95.
quick read that emphasizes the sheer variety in the empire inherited from the Qing
Leeming, Frank, 1985, Rural China Today. London & New York: Longman.
very old, but physical geography, minorities, and agricultural zones haven’t changed
Yabuki, Susumu (1999). A Huge Country. In: Susumu Yabuki and Stephen M. Harner, eds., China’s New Political Economy. Boulder, CO.: Westview Press, pp. 9-13.
This is a translation of a Japanese-language book, nice for its 2- or 4-page treatment with graphs and tables of lots of topics. It is very dated, but is a good source of ideas and background. note that any large Japanese bookstore will have multiple shelves in its economics section devoted entirely to China. the largest store has multiple bookcases…and that was already true 6 years ago.