300030 Law and Society in Modern China (S) (WiSe 2016/2017)

The ideology and institutional setting of Chinese law can be traced back to the Marxist ideas of law and its relationship with politics. Under this ideology, law used to be perceived as an instrument for the purpose of politics, which denied the relative autonomy of the superstructure. However, this is far from status quo reality. With the changes inherent within the Chinese situation in the last decades, unlike a Marxist approach to society and unlike the official reading of recent developments in China that the Communist party would predict, the economy, the political system, and the legal system have to some extent become self-referential systems. In the course “Law and Society in Contemporary China” we will discuss law and society from both top-down and bottom-up levels.
The top-down level concerns the general knowledge of the law’s relationship to politics in China in particular, the law’s role in authoritarian regimes; the law’s role in the unique Chinese political structure at the national level; and the judiciary as a relatively independent institution and its procedures. The reading materials assigned for this approach highlight the theoretical discussions. The bottom-up level concerns a concrete debate on a selection of social movements and cases in China at the local level. Relevant law and local governance strategies are introduced to analyze how the contemporary Chinese society solves its social and political conflicts. Reading materials will be used for case studies, such as land demolition and labor disputes. The following discussions in class will focus on how those cases are solved and why they are solved in this particular way.

1. The students will be able to critically analyze the Chinese way of reflecting on the relationship between law and politics, and become acquainted with the important social issues both on the theoretical level and on the ground. They will be encouraged to reflect on their familiar national social system as they form their insights.
2. Based on the acquired information, the students will develop their critical thinking to analyze issues of strong personal interest, and conduct further research independently.
3. Students will be encouraged to develop their oral and academic writing skills.

2 hours per week x 15 weeks

Week 1: Introduction
Week 2: Historical Background: Confucianism, Communism and Diversity
Week 3: Law and Politics at Central Level I: Central Politics in China
Week 4: Law and Politics at Central Level II: Constitutional law
Week 5: Rule of Law in China
Week 6: Analyzing China I: Judiciary and Judicial Reform
Week 7: Analyzing China II: Judiciary and Judicial Reform at the Grassroots Level
Week 8: Petition as an Alternative
Week 9: Case Study I: Mediation
Week 10: Case Study II: Land Demolition
Week 11: Case Study III: Legal Profession
Week 12: Case Study VI: Labor Disputes
Week 13: Criminal Law (Guest lecturer)
Week 14: Conclusion I: Comparison
Week 15: Conclusion II: Q& A