China's Rise to Superpower

Catalog description

This course examines China's tumultuous rise since 1900 from a crumbling agrarian empire to a global leader in twenty-first century technology. Adopting a political economy perspective, the course addresses the intertwining of politics and technology in historical context and traces the country's pursuit of prosperity and security through profound transformations. The course examines China's transitions from empire to republic to people's republic, from a command economy to a form of state capitalism, and from traditional authoritarianism to digital authoritarianism. Diverse sources and materials, spanning video, texts, and images, set China's domestic transformations in regional and global context. Prerequisites: History 1100 or History 1200 or History 1300 or History 1310 or Pol Sci 1200. (Co-listed with Pol Sci 4760).