Teaching Comparative

Alternate realities

When I read translations of Party policy statements from China, I feel like I'm vaguely in some kind of Alice in Wonderland place where fine sounding words are put together in ways that negate their usual meanings. Consider the messages in the first paragraphs of the following excerpt with the messages in the final paragraphs.

I know it's partly my own frame of reference and biases. And maybe it's partly the stiff, official translations. Maybe it's the tortured logic of democratic centralism. But the reading is almost always a mystical experience for me.

I think it's worth students' time and effort to work their way through at least one document like this.

This one, published by Xinhua, would be a good example.

I'd ask each student to summarize 3 or 4 main ideas from this document. Then I'd ask them to compare the main ideas they'd identified with the main ideas others found.

It would be wonderful to compare what American students identified as main ideas with the main ideas identified by Chinese students. Or the main ideas found by students from any other country. Now that would be a fascinating comparative exercise of a very unusual kind.

Senior CPC official expounds intra-Party democracy

"Li Yuanchao, head of the Organization Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), released an article in Thursday's People's Daily on how to push forward intra-Party democracy and strengthen Party unity.

"The article says intra-Party democracy is the lifeblood of the CPC. The development course of the Party has repeatedly proved that only when the intra-Party practices are fully fulfilled can the Party cause be prosperous and emerging problems be corrected in time. When intra-Party practices are weakened and destroyed, the Party cause will suffer defeat.

"The article calls for expanding intra-Party democracy. In the meantime, Party member's democratic rights should be safeguarded and their principal positions should be respected...

"Important decisions on the Party or the nation's significant affairs should be made after full intra-Party discussions. The leadership body should make resolutions after fully soliciting opinions from grassroots organizations. The grassroots Party organization should make decisions after soliciting opinions from Party members. Therefore, extensive participation and effective supervision of Party members to the Party affairs could be realized, the article says...

"The article says the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee should regularly report its work to plenary sessions of the Central Committee and accept its oversight; the standing committees of local Party committees at all levels should do likewise to plenary sessions of local Party committees and accept their oversight...

"The article also says Party unity is the lifeblood of the Party. 'All Party members must firmly uphold the centralized and unified leadership of the Party, conscientiously abide by the Party's political disciplines, always be in agreement with the CPC Central Committee and resolutely safeguard its authority to ensure that its resolutions and decisions are carried out effectively.'

"The article says all Party members must always be in accordance with the CPC Central Committee in guiding principles, work objectives and work deployment. Whatever the units and departments are, whoever the Party members are and wherever they are, they must resolutely follow the unified leadership of the CPC Central Committee."

---

Labels: China, concepts, pedagogy, political culture

posted by Ken Wedding @ 5:12 AM