Department of Government & International Studies
POLS 1140
Political Movements: Chinese and European
Prerequisites:
GIS－
POLS 1510 Foundations of Political Science or
POLS 1520 Government and Politics of China
European Studies－
EURO 1111 Europe: Unity and Diversity I
Duration/Frequency:
3 hours/week
Language of Tuition:
English
Individual Study Time Required:
42 hours (3 X 14 weeks)
Credits/Units:
3
Number of Contact Hours:
42 (3 X 14 weeks)
Total Assumed Work Load:
6 hours/week
Course Description/Aims and Objectives:
This course is designed to introduce a conceptual toolkit that is useful for
understanding the origins, dynamics, and impacts of political movements. It
starts with an attempt to distinguish between “normal” political process and
political movements. Then it presents two typologies of political movements,
one based on claims, the other based on forms of collective action. The third,
and most important, part of the course focuses on a number of key concepts,
such as relative deprivation, framing, and political opportunity structure, which
are often used when analyzing the emergence of political movements.
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs) / Competencies:
Knowledge
By the end of this course, students should be able to
1. Define key concepts and theories of major political movements within
a comparative context.
Skills
By the end of this course, students should be able to
2. Compare political movements in Western experiences with those in
Chinese experiences in different periods of time.
Attitudes
By the end of this course, students should be able to
3. Justify the acquired knowledge and skills when understanding and
interpreting social and political movements in both European and
Chinese countries/region.
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Course Content:
1.
2.
3.
Introduction: What are social & political movements?
Social & political movement: Basic concepts
Collective Behavior approach to Social & political movements (1): The
deprivation theory
4. Collective Behavior approach to Social & political movements (2):
Smelser’s structural strain & value added theory
5. Resource mobilization approach to Social & political movements (1):
The framing process theory
6. Resource mobilization approach to Social & political movements (2):
The political opportunities process theory
7. Case Studies (1): Political opportunities and the U.S. Black Movement
8. Social & political movements organizations
9. Case Studies (2): The Civil Rights movements
10. Movements and counter-movements
11. Case Studies (3): pro- & anti-abortion movements
12. New social and political movements
Teaching & Learning Activities (TLAs):
TLAs
1. Lectures / Seminars
Students are expected to synthesize a structured overview of
the political movements in China and Europe from lectures,
discussions and additional recommended readings.
2. Tutorials
Tutorial sessions will discuss critically key aspects of the political
movements in China and Europe. Tutorials may include short
presentations, online preparation and/or online follow-up
discussions, and discussions of additional readings.
ILOs
addressed
1 to 3
1 to 3
Assessment Methods (AMs):
AMs
Weighting
Tutorial discussion & 20%
participation
Term paper
30%
ILOs
addressed
1 to 3
1 to 3
2
Description of
Assessment Tasks
Regular attendance and
active participation are
mandatory. Students
develop and demonstrate
their skills and knowledge
by way of critical
discussion.
The term paper has to be
researched and written
independently. It serves to
demonstrate the student’s
Final examination
50%
1 to 3
ability to identify and
summarize main aspects of
political movements in
China and Europe.
Students will have to write
an essay, demonstrating the
understanding of the
structure of the political
movements in China and
Europe, and focusing on a
critical and holistic
reflection of political
movements within Chinese
and European context.
Recommended Introductory Readings / Textbook:
Crossley, Nick, Making Sense of Social Movements.
University Press, 2002.
Buckingham: Open
References:
Andrews, Kenneth T., “The Impacts of Social Movements on the Political
Process: The Civil Rights Movement and Black Electoral Politics in
Mississippi,” American Sociological Review, Vol. 62, No. 5. (October
1997), pp. 800-819.
Gerhards, Jurgen and Dieter Rucht, “Mesomobilization: Organizing and
Framing in Two Protest Campaigns in West Germany,” American Journal
of Sociology, Vol. 98, No. 3. (November 1992), pp. 555-596.
Jenkins, J. Craig, “Resource Mobilization Theory and the Study of Social
Movements,” Annual Review of Sociology, Vol. 9. (1983), pp. 527-553.
Snow, David A., E. Burke Rochford, Jr., Steven K. Worden, and Robert D.
Benford, “Frame Alignment Processes, Micromobilization, and
Movement Participation,” American Sociological Review, Vol. 51, No. 4.
(August 1986), pp. 464-481.
References for tutorial topics:
1. Declining Labor Union
Chen Feng, “Legal mobilization by trade unions: the case of Shanghai”, The
China Journal, no.52 (July 2004): pp.27-45.
Peter L Francia, “Wither labor? Reassessing organized labor’s political
power”, International Journal of Organization Theory and Behavior,
vol.10, no.2 (Summer 2007): pp.188-212.
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2. Fighting AIDS
Li xiaoming, Fang Xiaoyi, Lin Danhua, Mao Rong et al, “HIV/STD risk
behaviors and perceptions among rural-to-urban migrants in China”,
AIDS Education and Prevention, vol.16, no.6 (Dec. 2004): pp.538-556.
Nielan Barnes, “Collaboration between the U.S. and Mexican HIV/AIDS
Sectors: The role of community-based organizations and federal
HIV/AIDS funding policies in creating a binational political-organization
field”, The International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol.22,
no.4-6 (2002): pp.21-46.
3. Green politics
Robert J. Duffy. Lawrence, The Green Agenda in American Politics: New
Strategies for the Twenty-First Century, University Press of Kansas,
2003.
Phillip Stalley and Dongning Yang, “An Emerging Environmental Movement in
China?” The China Quarterly, vol.186 (June 2006): pp.333-356.
4. Right wing militia movement
Mark Pitcavage, “Camouflage and conspiracy: the militia movement from ruby
ridge to Y2K”, The American Behavioral Scientist, vol.44, no.6 (Feb
2001): pp.957-981.
5. Women’s Movement
Theresa Man Ling Lee, “Rethinking the personal and the political: feminist
activism and civic engagement”, Hypatia, vol.22, iss.4 (Fall 2007):
pp.163-179.
Zheng Wang, “Maoism, feminism, and the UN conference on women:
Women's studies research in contemporary China”, Journal of Women's
History, vol.8, iss.4 (Winter 1997): pp.126-152.
Wang Jiaxiang, “What are Chinese women faced with after Beijing?” Feminist
Studies, vol.22, no.3 (Fall 1996): pp.497-501.
Zheng Wang, “A historic turning point for the women’s movement in China”,
Signs, vol.22, iss.1 (Autumn 1996): pp.192-199.
6. Gay political movement
Craig A. Rimmerman, From Identity to Politics: The Lesbian and Gay
Movements in the United States, Philadelphia: Temple University Press,
2002.
Frank B Cross, “Gay politics and precedents”, Michigan Law Review, vol.103,
no.6 (May 2005): pp.1186-1230.
7. Peace movement
Patrick Novotny, “the post-Cold War era, the Persian Gulf War, and the peace
and justice movement in the 1990s”, Social Justice, vol.26, no.3 (Fall
1999): pp.190-203.
8. Human Rights movement
Ravi Nair, “Refugee protection in South Asia”, Journal of International Affairs,
vol.51, iss.1 (Summer 1997): pp. 201-220.
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Loretta J Ross, “A Personal Journey from Women's Rights to Civil Rights to
Human Rights”, The Black Scholar, vol. 36, no. 1 (Spring 2006): pp.4572.
9. Anti-globalization
Mark Moberg, “Fair Trade and Eastern Caribbean Banana Farmers: Rhetoric
and Reality in the Anti-Globalization Movement”, Human Organization,
vol.64, no. 1 (Spring 2005): pp.4-15.
Marcel Wissenburg, “GLOBOTOPIA: The antiglobalization movement and
utopianism”, Organization & Environment, vol.17, no. 4 (Dec. 2004):
pp.493-508.
10. National self determination movement
Phil C W Chan, “Hong Kong’s political autonomy and its continuing struggle
for universal suffrage”, Singapore Journal of Legal Studies (Dec 2006):
pp.285-311.
Benedict E DeDominicis, “Political strategic direction for the codification of the
international legal peremptory norm of ‘self-determination’”, Managerial
Law, vol.47, no.3/4: pp.97-106.
Syllabus prepared by: Dr. Benson W. K. WONG / September 2010
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