|
Instructors: Prof. Dr. Patrick Köllner
Event type:
Seminar
Displayed in timetable as:
China Policies
Hours per week:
2
Credits:
6,0
Language of instruction:
English
Min. | Max. participants:
10 | 20
Comments/contents:
Governments in various countries across the globe, such as Australia and the United States, as well as the European Union have in recent years substantially changed their policies directed at the People's Republic of China and actors, in particular corporate ones, from the PRC. What has caused and who is driving these policy changes? Which policy areas are affected? How have policies changed? How do these changes play out in different countries and across and within the EU? And how can we account for the similarities as well as differences of changing China policies in these polities? In this seminar we will seek to identify relevant policy changes, trace their development in recent years, and assess them in terms of convergence and divergence.
Learning objectives:
By the end of the seminar, participants will have developed a sound understanding of current China-related policy in a number of polities across the globe. They will have obtained an understanding of various variants of Process Tracing methodology and will have applied that knowledge to analyzing relevant changes in one particular country or the EU. They will have collaborated with other seminar participants to develop manageable research questions and to answer these questions. They will have engaged with the other seminar participants in discussions on how to organise their research and they will have presented their research findings in the seminar.
Didactic concept:
This is a research-based seminar. This means that participants will develop their own research projects connected to the overall theme of the seminar. This process will be guided, facilitated and moderated by the seminar organiser. He will provide a general introduction to the topic, provide relevant literature, and guide seminar participants in conceiving their collective and individual research projects. We will start by aquainting ourselves with the recent methodological literature on process tracing. The 'outcome-explaining' variant of process tracing will be used to understand how and why China policies have developed the way the did in different polities. Seminar participants will then work as groups that focus either on the development of China policy in a certain polity (incl. the EU) or examine a certain China-related policy area across countries.
Seminar participants will come together on a regular basis, either weekly or biweekly, in virtual settings. We will use MSTeams as the digital platform for interactions and for sharing documents. Please provide the seminar organiser (Prof Patrick Köllner, koellner@giga-hamburg.de) before the start of the seminar with an alternative email address if you do not want to use your uni email address.
Circumstances allowing and reflecting needs and demands, we might also come together in smaller groups physically.
Literature:
Some relevant literature:
Bennett, Andrew and Jeffrey T. Checkel (2015), Process Tracing: From Metaphor to Analytic Tool, Cambridge University Press. Online: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/process-tracing/process-tracing/A2843D39550F9A39377768A88D266A82 (There is a paywall but you might get access via the uni library.)
Beach, Derek and Rasmus Brun Pedersen (2019): Process-Tracing Methods: Foundations and Guidelines, 2nd edition, University of Michigan Press. (The first edition is available on ResearchGate. Search there for 'Derek Beach' and you will find it.)
Cameron, Fraser (2019), The European Union's New Rival: China, GIGA Focus Asia, October 2019. Online: https://www.giga-hamburg.de/en/publication/the-european-unions-new-rival-china (open access)
Godement, Francois (2020), Europe's Pushback on China, Policy Paper, June 2020, Institut Montaigne. Online: https://www.institutmontaigne.org/en/publications/europes-pushback-china (open access)
Köllner, Patrick (2019), Australia and New Zealand Recalibrate their China Policies: Convergence and Divergence, The Pacific Review, online first, DOI: 10.1080/09512748.2019.1683598 (open access)
Muno, Wolfgang (2016), Fallstudien und Process Tracing in der Vergleichenden Politikwissenschaft, in: Handbuch Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft, Springer. Online: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-3-658-02338-6_6 (open access)
Additional examination information:
How to obtain credit points for this seminar:
1) Seminar participants are expected to participate in all virtual seminar meetings and to prepare the literature provided for these meetings. The latter means not just reading these texts but to work with them, including noting relevant questions (also concerning issues that are unclear to you). Regular participation is a necessary condition for obtaining credit points. (If you cannot make it to a session, send an explanatory email to the seminar organiser.)
2) In later stages of the seminar, participants will report orally on the progress of their research projects during the seminar's sessions. (Not graded.)
3) Every seminar participant will write a short minute / memo on one session. This will be shared via MSTeams. (Not graded.)
4) Towards the end of the seminar, groups will report on the findings of their research in these sessions. (Not graded.)
5) Findings of the research projects will be handed in as seminar papers (Hausarbeiten) to be graded by the seminar organiser. Individual seminar papers should range from 10 to 15 pages (1.5 spaced, Times New Roman or Arial). Seminar papers should be sent by (i.e. no later than on) 31 March 2021 to: koellner@giga-hamburg.de (Please ask for an acknowledgement of receipt.) In exceptional cases, the deadline can be extended to 30 April 2021. (Extensions require approval by the seminar organiser based on an explanation on why the extension is needed.)
Office hours (Sprechstunde): The seminar organiser is available for individual or group consultations immediately after the seminar meetings or on appointment. Formats include MSTeams, phone, Skype, or, if need be, on-site meetings at the uni or at the GIGA Institute of Asian Studies, Rothenbaumchaussee 32.
|
