220022 Asian societies after the Second World War (S) (SoSe 2026)

This course examines the social, economic, and political transformations of Asian societies in the decades following the Second World War. While adopting a comparative and transnational perspective, the course primarily focuses on the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, using these cases to explore broader patterns and debates in postwar Asian history. The course introduces students to key historiographical approaches that move beyond elite politics to analyze everyday life and state–society relations.

Early weeks address rural change and agricultural transformation, processes of industrialization and home industry, and shifting conditions of housing and daily life. The course then turns to social hierarchies and governance, examining patriarchies, the relationship between religion and the (socialist) state, the emergence of surveillance practices, and strategies for managing multiethnic populations.

In the second half of the course, attention shifts to discipline, conformity, and contestation. Topics include the visibility and situation of sexual minorities, practices of self-criticism and party discipline, persecution and penitentiary systems, and mass mobilization, with a dedicated case study of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. The course also situates Asian socialist societies within global networks, exploring socialist solidarity and exchanges with Eastern Europe and Africa, as well as alignment, non-alignment, and forms of cultural internationalism. Thus, students will gain a grounded and comparative understanding of postwar Asian societies.

Requirements for participation, required level

Some familiarity with postwar history helps orientation but isn't necessarily a prerequisite.