Asian Politics
Dr. Annie G. Dandavati
POL 303, 4 credits
Tuesday/Thursday: 9:30-10:50
Office Phone: 395-7984
Miller 249
Fall 2011
This course will focus on the following themes:
1. The cultural legacies of India and China and the fusion and intermingling of cultural
ideas of the two Asian powers
2. The responses of India and China to foreign incursions
3. The rise of nationalism and nationalist movements, revolution from within and without
4. Establishment of the modern state and the rise of movements challenging state
sovereignty
5. Difference between a parliamentary democracy and single party communist state
6. Debates regarding development and relationship between development and democracy
and the responses to globalization
7. Comparing and contrasting Indian and Chinese models of development and subsequent
challenges
Books for purchase:
Comparing Asian Politics, 3rd ed. by Sue Ellen Charlton, Westview Press, 2010
Modernization and Revolution in China, 4th ed. by Grasso et al., M.E. Sharpe, 2009
Recommended readings suitable for background information as well as suggested material
for research.
Awakening Giants, Feet of Clay: Assessing the economic rise of China and India by Pranab
Bardhan, Princeton University, 2010
Billions of Entrepreneurs: How China and India are reshaping their Future and Yours by
Tarun Khanna, Harvard University, 2008
China’s Political System by June Teufel Dreyer, Longman, 2009
China’s New Confucianism: Politics and Everyday Life in a Changing Society by Daniel
Bell, Princeton University, 2008
The Argumentative Indian by Amartya Sen, Picador Press, 2005
Being Indian: the truth about why the twenty-first century will be India’s by Pavan Varma,
Penguin Books, 2004
East Meets West: Human Rights and Democracy in East Asia by Daniel Bell, Princeton
University, 2000
Yale Global Online
China Films: To Live, The Last Emperor, Shower, Blood of Ying Zhou District, Blind Shaft,
Up the Yangtze, Mardi Gras; Made in China, Blind Mountain, Manufactured Landscapes,
The Road Home, Raise the Red Lantern, Farewell My Concubine, 13 Women of Nanjing,
Hero, Ju Dun, House of Flying Daggers, The Story of Qui Ju, Summer Palace, The Blue
Kite, Eat Drink Man Women
India Films: Gandhi, Earth, Monsoon Wedding, English August, Bollywood Calling, Hyderbad
Blues, Mr. & Mrs. Iyer, Salaam Bombay, A Train to Pakistan, A Passage to India, City of
Joy, Bombay Boys, Bend it Like Beckham, Namesake, Lagaan
Grades:
60% - Portfolio
25% - 20 page research paper
15% - Class presentation
Week 1 - August 30th, September 1st
Introductions and why study India and China together? Setting the stage – India and China in
comparative perspective. Why the study of India and China is relevant and establishing the
parameters of the trifecta of culture, politics and economics in the two rising powers of Asia
Page 1 to 73, Part I in “Comparing Asian Politics” by Charlton.
Week 2 - September 6th, September 8th
Examining some elements of Chinese Philosophy and religion. The role of Confucius, Li (path),
Yi (action implemented) and Ren (the relation between agent and object of the action)
Pages 97 to 149, Part II in “Comparing Asian Politics” by Charlton
Pages 3 to 31 in Modernization and Revolution in China by Grasso et al.
The Chinese Confucian Party by Daniel Bell, Feb. 19, 2010 in Globe and Mail
Confucius making a comeback in money-driven modern China by Maureen Fen, July 24, 2007 in
Washington Post Foreign Service.
Week 3 - September 13th, September 15th
Philosophy and Religion in India – discussions on Caste and communalism. Religions of India
and China - Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Islam and Daoism.
Week 4 - September 20th, September 22nd
Opening up of India and China. Rise of Chinese Nationalism. The CCP. Revolution from
within and the Two World Wars. Mao and Chiang Kai Shek and the First and Second United
Fronts. The role of the Japanese. The creation of the PRC and the ROC.
Pages 32 to 129 in Modernization and Revolution in China by Grasso et al.
Week 5 - September 27th, September 29th
Indian Nationalism and The Indian National Congress, the role of the British and the two World
Wars, Gandhi, Satyagraha, Quit India Movement, Jinnah and the Partition.
“Five Images of South Asia” in Global Studies: India and South Asia, 9th ed. by James Norton
Week 6 – October 4th, October 6th
Building the power of the State and the rise of Protest Movements
Nehru and Mao – five year plans, the GLF and the Cultural Revolution
Tibet, Kashmir, Pakistan, and the Indo-Chinese War
Pages 175 to 265, Part III in “Comparing Asian Politics” by Charlton
Week 7 - October 13th
Defining Sovreignity and Statehood and the relationship with the outside world
Korean War, Vietnam War, relation with the Soviets, Pakistan, Bangladesh
Cold War and NAM
Pages 130 to 218 in Modernization and Revolution in China by Grasso et al.
Week 8 - October 18th, October 20th
Catch-up – caste system and communalism – dealing with difference and identity.
Week 9 - October 25th, October 27th
Discourse on Development, Re-opening up of China and India
Deng Xiao-Peng (1979) and the Congress (1991)
Pages 219 to 258 in Modernization and Revolution in China by Grasso et al.
Week 10 – November 1st, November 3rd
FDI, Knowledge-based economy and manufacturing economy
Outsourcing. Industrialization and agrarian structures. State-owned enterprises.
Chapter 2 – pages 19 to 41 in “Awakening Giants: Feet of Clay” by Pranab Bardhan, Princeton
University Press, 2010.
Week 11 - November 8th, November 10th
Two distinct models of development, role of diaspora, emphasis on domestic entrepreneurship,
inter-dependence. Business Practices, rural-urban divide, environmental degradation, gender,
inequalities, legal frameworks, economic and monetary policy, Pages 259 to 306 in
Modernization and Revolution in China by Grasso et al.
Chapter 6, Epilogue – pages 191 to 213 in ‘Being Indian” by Pavan Varma, Penguin Books,
2004
Week 12 - November 15th, November 17th
Catch-up or Class presentations
Week 13 - November 22nd
Class presentations
Week 14 - November 29th, December 1st
Week 15 - December 6th, December 8th
Class presentations
Topics for research and presentations will be determined in consultation with the professor.
Potential areas to focus on in a comparative perspective could include the environment, gender,
religion, population, business practices and multi-culturalism.