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Essay questions for Unit 6: MOBILITYA) A) In her provocative book China's Motor, Hill Gates states that the last thousand years of Chinese history have seen an alternation in relative strength between the bureaucratic-tributary mode of production and the petty-capitalist mode of production. Does this model apply to the present situation in China? If not, why not, but more interestingly, if so, then
B) As Barry Naughton sums up in a recent chapter, "China has lost its status as a relatively equal developing country, inequality has increased rapidly, and China is now a relatively unequal middle-income country." In fact, the administration of Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao has recognized the fact of growing inequality, and has taken measures, such as tax remissions, fiscal reform, and rural development schemes, to try to address the inequality problem. Despite recognizing a growing and dangerous problem of inequality, however, the current regime avoids the idea that there are such things as social classes, or that there might arise anything like class conflict, let alone class struggle, in the current era. Why do official rhetoric and policy avoid the term and the problem of social class? What danger would it pose if the existence of classes were acknowledged? Does using the concept of jieceng, or "social stratum" avoid the problem? Address these questions both in light of the current situation--as portrayed in the many ethnographic readings you have done for this class already--and in light of the history of the idea of social classes and class struggle in the Chinese revolution. C) On page 6 of Governing Educational Desire, Andrew Kipnis states that the Chinese educational system has the goal of producing "patriotic, creative, 'high quality,' entrepreneurial, responsible, moral, intelligent, adaptable adults." How well have the people you have read about in the ethnographic material on contemporary China met these criteria? Do the Chinese educational system and the evolving patterns of social inequality, and the resulting ways that people seem compelled to strategize for family and personal advantage encourage or discourage each of these traits, and how? D) This one is for serious anthro majors or anthro aficionados only. In the introduction to Governing Educational Desire, Andrew Kipnis seems downright embarrassed (and a little bit scared) to use the concept of culture at all in explaining educational desire in China. Why? What in the recent history of anthropology would make him so gun-shy, and how would you expect contemporary anthropological theorists to react, in particular, to Kipnis's unabashedly cultural analyses in the chapter on "Historicizing Educational Desire" and the first few sections of "The Universal in the Local." Is Kipnis's ambivalence understandable? Does he need the concept of culture anyway? What does it add to his analysis? Finally, how do other writers we have read for this class use the concept, explicitly or implicitly, and does the concept add to or detract from their analyses? General guidelines for essays All essays should be submitted by email to the instructor by 5:00 p.m. on the posted due date. Essays that are submitted late on the due date will be graded down one notch (e.g. A- to B+ or B to B-); essays that come in after the due date will be graded down two notches (e.g. A to B+ or B+ to B-). Essays will be returned by one week from the announced due date and time. Essays should be between 1500 and 2000 words in length, not counting references. You may use any style (footnotes, endnotes, or embedded author and date) for references, as long as it is clear where you have gotten your information. Quotations should always be referenced, as should any information that is taken explicitly from a given source. If you need help with writing, you should make an appointment to visit the Anthropology Writing Center or the JSIS Writing Center. Because of the large number of students and because of time limitations, I will not be able to read and comment on preliminary drafts. |