Event

This 1.5-day interdisciplinary workshop brings together scholars to identify, contextualize, and trace the development of key features of contemporary Chinese politics. It comprises two main parts, one thematic, one methodological. The thematic part includes four panels covering power politics, the politics of science, state-society relations, and ethnic politics. The methodological part includes two panels and a roundtable discussion on the opportunities and challenges involved in the use of “organizational histories” (组织史资料) as a source for the study of Chinese politics. This workshop is supported by the Center for the Study of Contemporary China at the University of Pennsylvania and the Sciences Po Transatlantic Research Fund. This workshop is co-sponsored by Center for the Study of Contemporary China and the Sciences Po Transatlantic Research Fund. 

Format: 10-15 min per presenter, 10 min for discussant, remaining time for open discussion

Day 1 (Afternoon of April 22) 

Panel 1: Power Politics and the Party-State in Historical Perspective (2-3:30pm)

Presenters: Victor Shih (UC San Diego), Joseph Torigian (American University), Andrew Nathan (Columbia University), Joseph Fewsmith (Boston University)

Discussant: Jacques deLisle (University of Pennsylvania)

Chair: Fiona Cunningham (University of Pennsylvania)

Panel 2: The Politics of Scientific Authority in the PRC (4-5:30pm)

Presenters: Joshua Freedman (University of Pennsylvania), Stéphanie Balme (Sciences Po), Abigail Coplin (Vassar College), Susan Greenhalgh (Harvard University)

Discussant: Fiona Cunningham (University of Pennsylvania)

Chair: Scott Moore (University of Pennsylvania) 

Day 2 (Morning and afternoon of April 23) 

Panel 3: The Reach of the State, from Mao to Now (9:30-11am)

Presenters: Yuhua Wang (Harvard University), Elizabeth Perry (Harvard University), Pierre Landry (Chinese University of Hong Kong)

Discussant: Junyan Jiang (Columbia University)

Chair: Guobin Yang (University of Pennsylvania)

Panel 4: Ethnic Politics and the Politics of Ethnic Policy (11:15-12:45pm)

Presenters: Benno Weiner (Carnegie Mellon University), Yan Sun (CUNY Graduate Center), Aaron Glasserman (University of Pennsylvania)

Discussant: June Teufel Dreyer (University of Miami)

Chair: Emily Hannum (University of Pennsylvania) 

Methodological Session 1: Uses of Organizational Histories (2-3:30pm)

Presenters: Saul Wilson (Brown University), Yuhua Wang (Harvard University), Cheng Cheng (New York University); Chris Mittelstaedt (SOAS); Yang Long (University of Freiburg)

Chair: Jérôme Doyon (Sciences Po)

Methodological Session 2: Possibilities and Limits of Digitization (3:45-5:15pm)

Presenters: Pierre Landry (Chinese University of Hong Kong); Jérôme Doyon (Sciences Po); Junyan Jiang (Columbia University)

Chair: Aaron Glasserman (University of Pennsylvania）

Concluding Discussion (5:30-6pm)