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Syllabus Global Cities and the Middle Classes in East Asi - 46817
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Last update 13-07-2015
HU Credits: 4

Degree/Cycle: 2nd degree (Master)

Responsible Department: Asian Studies

Semester: Yearly

Teaching Languages: Hebrew

Campus: Mt. Scopus

Course/Module Coordinator: Nissim Otmazgin and Orna Naftali


Coordinator Office Hours: Dr. Nissim Otmazgin: Thursday, 14:30-15:30
Dr. Naftali: Wed. 11:30-12:30

Teaching Staff:
Dr. Nissim Otmazgin
Dr. Orna Naftali

Course/Module description:
The course deals with one of the most interesting phenomena of the last several decades in Asia:
The rapid growth of huge metropolitan centers which serve as dynamic hubs of economic, social, and cultural activities and which attract large-scale domestic and international migration. Shanghai, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Jakarta, Seoul, and Kuala Lumpur are not merely “global cities” attached to regional and worldwide financial and industrial centers, but are key sites for the emergence of novel social formations, including the new middle classes. These emergent white-collar professionals are said to harbor new expectations and pose new demands in areas such as leisure and education, as well as access to better public services, safer food, and a cleaner environment. They also play a key role the construction of new models of citizenship and new cosmpolitan identities across the region.

In this course, we shall exmaine these recent developments; learn about the dramatic changes in the economic geography and in the demographic and social structure of East Asian cities; and identify and map new sites of economic and political power in the region

Course/Module aims:
-To chart the emergence and development of East Asian global cities (in north-east and south-east Asia)
-To analyze the socioeconomic and political features of the new middles classes which inhabit East Asia's global cities
-To discuss the implications of these recent changes for national and regional politics; for East Asia's economic geography; and for the social demographics of the region

Learning outcomes - On successful completion of this module, students should be able to:
-Chart the emergence and development of East Asian global cities (both north-east and south-east Asia)
-Analyze the socioeconomic and political features of the new middles classes which inhabit these global cities
-Discuss the implications of these recent changes for contemporary national and regional politics; for East Asian economic geography; and for the social demographics of the region


Attendance requirements(%):
100

Teaching arrangement and method of instruction: Lecture and discussion

Course/Module Content:
-The commerical and Financial activities in East Asia's global cities
-Urban planning and architecture in East Asia's global cities
-The development of the urban middle class and its social, economic, and political features
-Economy and consumption in East Asia's global cities
-The development of urban epistimelogical communities
-The development of urban cosmopolitan culture in Asia
-Cities, regionalism and globalization in East Asia

Required Reading:
Sassen, Saskia. 2001. The Global City: New York, London, Tokyo. 2nd edition. Princeton: Princeton University Press

Acuto, Michele. 2010. "Global Cities: Gorillas in Our Midst." Alternatives: Global, Local, Political 35, no. 4: 425-448

Scott, Allen. 2006. “Globalization and the Rise of City-Regions.” In Neil Brenner and Roger Keil (eds.). The Global Cities Reader. Pp. 370-77. London and New York: Routledge
Hill, R.C. and Kim J.W. (2000), “Global Cities and Development States: New York, Tokyo and Seoul”, Urban Studies 37 (12): 2167-2195

Kharas, Homi, and Geoffrey Gertz. 2010. “The New Global Middle Class: A Crossover from West to East.” In China’s Emerging Middle Class: Beyond Economic Transformation, Cheng Li, ed. 32-54. Washington D.C. : Brookings Institution Press.

KIM, SEUNG-KUK, 2000, “Changing Lifestyles and Consumption Patterns of the South Korean Middle Class and New Generations,” in Chua Beng-Huat (ed.), Consumption in Asia: Lifestyles and identities, pp. 61-81, London and New York: Routledge

Huang, T.M. 2006. The Cosmopolitan Imaginary and Flexible Identities of Global-City Regions: Articulating New Cultural Identities in Taipei and Shanghai. Inter-Asian Cultural Studies, 7(3), 472–91

Tomba Luigi (2004) Creating an urban middle class: Social engineering in Beijing. The China Journal 51:1–26

Taylor, Peter J. 2005. “New Political Geographies: Global Civil Society and Global Governance Through World City Networks,” Political Geography 24, no. 6: 703–730

Clammer, John. 2003. "Globalisation, Class, Consumption and Civil Society in South-east Asian Cities." Urban Studies 40, no. 2: 403.

Rocca, Jean-Louis. 2013. “Homeowners movement: narratives on the political behavior of the middle class.” In Minglu Chen and David S.G. Goodman (eds.) Middle Class China: Identity and Behavior. Pp. 110-134. Edward Elgar Publishing.

Englehart, Neil A. 2003. "Democracy and the Thai Middle Class: Globalization, Modernization, and Constitutional Change." 2003. Asian survey, vol. 43, no. 2, PP. 253-279

Chen, Jie. 2010. “Attitudes toward Democracy and the Political Behavior of China’s Middle Class. China’s Emerging Middle Class: Beyond Economic Transformation, Cheng Li, ed. Pp. 334-358. Washington D.C. : Brookings Institution Press

Alastair Iain Johnston. 2004. “Chinese Middle Class Attitudes Towards International Affairs: Nascent Liberalization?” The China Quarterly, No. 179 (Sep., 2004), pp. 603-628

Donald, Stephanie H., and Zheng Yi, “Richer Than Before: The Cultivation of Middle-
Class Taste: Education Choices in Urban China,” in The New Rich: Future Rulers, Present Lives, ed. David Goodman (London: Routledge, 2007), 71–82.

Leshkowich, Ann Marie. 2011. “Making Class and Gender: (Market) Socialist Enframing of Traders in Ho Chi Minh City”. AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST, Vol. 113, No. 2, pp. 277–290

Lee, J. H. (1996). “Health Food as Gendered Commodity: Body, Health, and Sexuality Among Middle-Class Korean Men” .International Journal Of Politics, Culture & Society, 10(1),

Smith, Wendy A. 1999. “The Contribution of a Japanese Firm to the Cultural Construction of the New Rich in Malaysia,” in Pinches, Michael (ed.). Culture and Privilege in Capitalist Asia, 112-137. Routledge

Additional Reading Material:

Course/Module evaluation:
End of year written/oral examination 0 %
Presentation 30 %
Participation in Tutorials 0 %
Project work 50 %
Assignments 20 %
Reports 0 %
Research project 0 %
Quizzes 0 %
Other 0 %

Additional information:
*For the most updated information on the course topics and list of reading items, please refer to course site on the Moodle system

 
Students needing academic accommodations based on a disability should contact the Center for Diagnosis and Support of Students with Learning Disabilities, or the Office for Students with Disabilities, as early as possible, to discuss and coordinate accommodations, based on relevant documentation.
For further information, please visit the site of the Dean of Students Office.
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