A) There are two countervailing sets of ideas one encounters in reading about the Chinese state and its relations with local communities:

On the one hand, we see a picture of corrupt local officials, privatizing state assets for their own profit, levying illegal taxes and fees, conspiring to confiscate land for dubious construction projects, forcing women to have unwanted abortions.

On the other hand, we see a picture of dedicated men (almost always men) trying to act in the best interests of the community and of the nation, caught between the policy demands of their bosses and the loyalties of their relatives, working hard at an impossible job.

Both these portraits of local officials are no doubt based on reality. Using all the readings so far that have dealt with local officials, both rural and urban, what do you think determines whether local officials are seen (by local people, by higher-level officials, or by scholars and journalists who write about them) as rapacious predators or as dedicated servants of the people? Is it the ethical character of the officials, the time period in which they serve(d), the nature of the particular policies they are asked to enforce, the theoretical presuppositions of the writers, or some combination of these and/or other factors?

B) There have been a series of incidents between China and other countries in the past decade that have brought out popular manifestations of Chinese nationalism, such as anti-American and anti-Japanese demonstrations and blog commentaries. These have included the bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade in 1999, the collision between American and Chinese warplanes over the South China Sea in 2001, and even the University of Washington's awarding of an honorary degree to the Dalai Lama in 2008, soon after violent clashes between Tibetan demonstrators and PRC police in several ethnic Tibetan areas. Similarly, any attempt by the Japanese government to revise high-school textbooks in Japan to soft-pedal the cruelty of the Japanese armies during the Second World War reliably brings patriotic Chinese into the streets, as has the very recent dispute over who owns various rocks in the South China Sea.

Why are these things so important to the public in China, to the point that they risk crackdowns from their own government, as nationalistic as it might be? What public are we talking about? Why do they care so much? Does this contradict our earlier assertion that the CCP was bound to fail when trying to expand the sphere of personal obligation and responsibility to the collective or the nation? Why or why not?

C) In class on Wednesday, we defined democracy in two ways: policy-making officials directly responsible to the public for their positions, and freedom of information and expression. Given what you know about the recent history of the Chinese state, the class structure of society, the educational system, and the overseas experiences of Chinese students, as described in Vanessa Fong's Paradise Redefined, do you think China is likely to develop a more democratic political system in the next two decades? Why or why not?

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.