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ID: 164773

Defense education in Chinese universities: drilling elite youth / Genevaz, Juliette

Genevaz, Juliette	Journal Article
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Summary/Abstract

This article examines the design, implementation and reception of defense education in Chinese universities. Delivered by the People’s Liberation Army since 1985, this program, which aims at cultivating students’ civic awareness through elementary military training, is still ongoing today. Official publications and interviews with students who attended the training suggest that defense education is successful in conveying the authority of the Party-state to China’s new elite youth. The physical component of the training is the added value that is well received by the new generations, by comparison with ideological indoctrination. The Chinese Communist Party’s use of the military to infuse discipline and compliance among a historically volatile section of society highlights the militarist nature of the People’s Republic of China.

Key Words

Chinese Communist Party ; People’s Liberation Army ; Chinese Universities ; Defense Education

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ID: 151964

Political indoctrination in the Chinese military: towards a post-revolutionary people’s liberation army / Genevaz, Juliette

Genevaz, Juliette	Journal Article
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This article examines the role played by the political indoctrination of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) during China’s socio-economic reforms of 1987–2007. This period was a time of political transition during which the Chinese Communist Party transformed its ideology from a focus on revolution to a self-proclaimed unrivalled single-party regime. This article looks at how the party conveyed this ideological change to the armed forces. One of the four PLA general headquarters/departments, the PLA General Political Department (中国人民解放军总政治部), was responsible for the indoctrination of servicemen and -women. Examining the work of this agency over the 20 years following its major ideological effort in 1987, this article challenges the dominant literature according to which political indoctrination hinders military professionalization. The crux of this argument is that the General Political Department’s purpose behind indoctrination of the armed forces was not only to assert party control but also to build esprit de corps. Based on a series of previously untapped periodicals published by the General Political Department, this analysis contributes to understanding processes of authoritarian resilience in the contemporary Chinese state.

Key Words

Civil–Military Relations ; Communist Revolution ; People’s Liberation Army (PLA) ; Political Indoctrination ; Political Work

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