PLT4289

Japan, Korea and China: East Asian states and development

Not offered in 1999

Andrew Perry

12 points - 2 hours per week - Second semester - Clayton

Objectives On successful completion of this subject students should have an understanding of various ideas and theories about trends in political, economic and social development in modern Eastern Asia; acquired knowledge of ideas and practices as regards the modern state.

Synopsis Focusing on several major east Asian states, this subject seeks to explore some diverse kinds and degrees of political and economic change and development. Strong emphasis is given to studying the relationship between socio-economic changes and trends towards 'democratic' or 'authoritarian' politics and to a particular concern with ideas, 'ideologies' and practices in the roles of the modern state. The subject examines developments in Japan, Korea, Taiwan and mainland China, looking at 'traditional' political, social and economic structures, and their modification or disruption through political, economic and social changes and through contacts with 'the West'. It also examines a variety of political, economic and social responses to, and consequences of, such pressures for change. Comparisons among these countries are made in an effort to test the ideas and theories of writers such as Barrington Moore Jr, Chalmers Johnson, Alice Amsden, Stephan Haggard, Peter Berger, Frederick Deyo, Robert Wade and Gordon White. Subjects explored may include political cooperation and conflict among bureaucrats, business corporations, politicians, trade unions and the military; the significance of gender and class.

Assessment Essay (6000 words): 50% - Examination (3 hours): 50%

Recommended texts

Amsden A Asia's next giant: South Korea and late industrialisation OUP, 1992
Deyo F C (ed.) The political economy of the new Asian industrialism Cornell U P, 1987
Dreyer J T China's political system: Modernization and tradition Macmillan, 1993
Moore B Jr Social origins of dictatorship and democracy Pelican, 1969
Sheridan K Governing the Japanese economy Polity, 1993
Wade R Governing the market: Economic theory and the role of government in East Asian industrialization Princeton U P, 1990
White G Riding the tiger: The politics of economic reform in China Macmillan, 1993

Back to the 1999 Arts Handbook