#401 Deng Xiaoping: “Black Cat, White Cat”

Introducing unit IV:

• As Schell and Delury suggest, “By the 1980s [Deng Xiaoping] had named his counterrevolution gaige kaifang (改革开放), “reform and opening up.” Deng’s strange hybrid reform combined Vladimir Lenin’s recipe for a disciplined and well-organized state and Milton Friedman’s celebration of free market economics” (261).
• Over the next couple of weeks we will examine this transformation of China from the 1980s to the early 2000s.

Essential questions for unit IV:

• Are ideas like freedom and democracy universal, driving aspirations? If so, does the meaning of each term remain consistent across time and place? If not, what other goals might be more important?
• In what ways is equality important? And how do much weight should human societies place on guaranteeing equal opportunities and outcomes?
• How do we know when a state is legitimate? What rights should people have to overthrow a state that is considered illegitimate? Is violence ever justified on the part of the state to maintain power?

Interactive background

• Slides

Further discussion:

• To what extent do you think Deng’s biography (his family background, his time in France and the Soviet Union, his revolutionary credentials, or his experience during the Cultural Revolution) impacted his eventual choices as paramount leader?
• How would you summarize the complex relationship between Mao and Deng?
• What is the relationship between “reform” and “opening”?
• What do you find admirable about Deng’s leadership? Are there any aspects that might give you pause?