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From Fei Xiaotong to Pun Ngai: Case Studies in Chinese Sociology and Anthropology

Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

Kimiko Suda

Information

Course Type
SE
Semester
SoSe 2025
Location
Johann10, 201
SWS
2
Start
Day
Mo
Time
12-14
Registration
max. 30
E-Mail
kimiko.suda@hu-berlin.de

Details

This course introduces a selection of Chinese scholars, their methodological and theoretical discussions, and their empirical case studies on the development of China´s social structures in sociology and anthropology. Through the case studies, we will trace the history and current developments of these disciplines in the context of the modernization paradigm and the transnational circulation of knowledge. The first part of the course will focus on studies conducted in China in the first half of the 20th century, such as Yan Yangchu's work on mass education, Chen Hansheng's work on Chinese villages, and Fei Xiaotong's work on rural communities. In the second part of the course we will read and discuss studies published after the resumption of academic life following the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), including studies by Lu Xueyi, Li Peilin, He Shenjing, Pun Ngai, Zhou Daming, and Lian Si. Assignments for participation: oral presentation.
Literature

Fei, Xiaotong, Hamilton, G. G., Wang, Z., & ProQuest (1992). From the soil, the foundations of Chinese society a translation of Fei Xiaotong's Xiangtu Zhongguo, with an introduction and epilogue. Berkeley: University of California Press. Fei, X. (2015). Globalization and Cultural Self-Awareness (2015th ed.). Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin/Heidelberg. Fei, X. (2017). The formation and development of the Chinese nation with multi-ethnic groups. International Journal of Anthropology and Ethnology, 1(1), 1–31. Li, Peilin., Qu, Jingdong., Yang, Yabin., & SpringerLink. (2024). Chinese Sociologists in the First Half of the 20th Century (1st ed. 2024.). Singapore. Lu, X. (2020). Social structure and social stratification in contemporary China. Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY. Lu, Xueyi., & Li, Peilin. (2013). Chinese research perspectives on society. Volume 1. Leiden. Ngai, P., & Huilin, L. (2010). Unfinished Proletarianization: Self, Anger, and Class Action among the Second Generation of Peasant-Workers in Present-Day China. Modern China, 36 (5), 493–519. Zhou, D. (2021). Revisiting China's rural urbanisation: a Pearl River Delta region perspective. Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY.