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"Politics and culture China 21st century."
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The great Han : race, nationalism, and tradition in China today
\"The Great Han is an ethnographic study of the Han Clothing movement (Hanfu yundong), a neo-traditionalist and majority racial nationalist movement that has emerged in China since 2001. Participants come together both online and in person in cities across China to revitalize their utopian vision of the authentic \"Great Han\" and corresponding \"real China\" through pseudo-traditional ethnic dress, reinvented Confucian ritual, and anti-foreign sentiment. Employing close analysis of movement ideas and practices, this book finds that the movement's \"real China,\" envisioning a pure, perfectly ordered, ethnically homogeneous, and secure society, is in fact an imaginary vision constructed in response to the challenging realities of the present. Yet this national imaginary is reproduced precisely through its own perpetual elusiveness. The Great Han is a pioneering analysis of Han identity, nationalism, and social movements in a rapidly changing China.\"--Provided by publisher.
Book
Following the leader
With unique access to Chinese leaders at all levels of the party and government, best-selling author David M. Lampton tells the story of China’s political elites from their own perspectives. Based on over five hundred interviews, Following the Leader offers a rare glimpse into how the attitudes and ideas of those at the top have evolved over the past four decades. Here China’s rulers explain their strategies and ideas for moving the nation forward, share their reflections on matters of leadership and policy, and discuss the challenges that keep them awake at night. As the Chinese Communist Party installs its new president, Xi Jinping, for a presumably ten-year term, questions abound. How will the country move forward as its explosive rate of economic growth begins to slow? How does it plan to deal with domestic and international calls for political reform and to cope with an aging population, not to mention an increasingly fragmented bureaucracy and society? In this insightful book we learn how China’s leaders see the nation’s political future, as well as about its global strategic influence.
eBook
China's peaceful rise : perceptions, policy and misperceptions
Can China peacefully attain great power status in the twenty-first century? Adopting a constructivist approach, the book argues that China's prospects for achieving great power status peacefully depend more on Chinese and international perceptions of China's rise/development than on concrete measures of power or economic benefits, because power considerations and economic self-interest reflect shifting perceptions that have their roots in factors, such as historical experience and national image. Incorporating historical perceptions, survey data and general analysis, the book explores Chinese foreign policies in international organizations, international trade, security relations and as a model for global governance, plus the reactions to those policies within the context of China's relations with Asian neighbours (India, Japan and the states of South-east Asia), existing international powers (the European Union, Russia and the United States), and emergent trading partners (Africa), representing a wider number of diverse states than are included in most books.--Publisher's website.
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Discourse, Politics and Media in Contemporary China
After three and a half decades of economic reforms, radical changes have occurred in all aspects of life in China. In an authoritarian society, these changes are mediated significantly through the power of language, carefully controlled by the political elites. Discourse, as a way of speaking and doing things, has become an indispensable instrument for the authority to manage a fluid, increasingly fragmented, but highly dynamic and yet fragile society. Written by an international team of leading scholars, this volume examines socio-political transformations of contemporary Chinese society through a systematic account, analysis and assessment of its salient discourses and their production, circulation, negotiation, and consequences. In particular, the volume focuses on the interplay of politics and media. The book’s intended readership is academics and students of Chinese studies, language and discourse, and media and communication studies.
eBook
China dreams : 20 visions of the future
After celebrating their country's three decades of fantastic economic success, many Chinese are now asking, \"What comes next?\" How can China convert its growing economic power into political and cultural influence around the globe? William Callahan's China Dreams gives voice to China's many different futures by exploring the grand aspirations and deep anxieties of a broad group of public intellectuals. Stepping outside narrow politics of officials vs. dissidents, Callahan examines what a third group - \"citizen intellectuals\" - think about China's future. China Dreams eavesdrops on fascinating conversations between officials, scholars, soldiers, bloggers, novelists, film-makers and artists to see how they describe China's different political, strategic, economic, social and cultural futures. Callahan also examines how the PRC's new generation of twenty- and thirty-somethings is creatively questioning \"The China Model\" of economic development. The personal stories of these citizen intellectuals illustrate China's zeitgeist and a complicated mix of hopes and fears about \"The Chinese Century\", providing a clearer sense of how the PRC's dramatic economic and cultural transitions will affect the rest of the world. China Dreams explores the transnational connections between American and Chinese people, providing a new approach to Sino-American relations. While many assume that 21st century global politics will be a battle of Confucian China vs. the democratic west, Callahan weaves Chinese and American ideals together to describe a new \"Chimerican dream\". Explores the thinking of a new generation of China's young leaders and intellectuals ; Presents diverse sets of information from government documents, academic scholarship, blogs, film, and visual art ; Opens a window into China's own public debates about its future.--Publisher's website.
Book
Soft power
Soft power has become a very popular concept in international affairs, appearing in government policy papers, academic discussions, and the popular media. In China, soft power has become one of the most frequently used phrases among political leaders, leading academics, and journalists. Defined against hard power, which often involves threat and coercion, soft power applies attraction, persuasion, and cooperation, finding its sources in culture, political values, and foreign policies. China, rich in culture and traditional philosophy, boasts abundant sources of soft power. Soft Power attempts to analyze the domestic and international views of China's soft power, the main strengths and weaknesses of China's soft power, and the application of soft power in China's international politics. It provides a comprehensive exploration of the soft power dimension in China's foreign relations by integrating views from various disciplines, such as history, education, culture, political economy, comparative politics, and philosophy. The book argues that soft power has become a very popular concept in China, that China is contemplating and exploring an innovative strategy in its rise and international politics, and that there have been quite a few notable elements of this in China's diplomatic practice, including softer rhetoric, promotion of the Chinese culture abroad, economic diplomacy, and image building. The book also argues that the limitations of China's soft power primarily stem from political values and China's own transitions, and reflects the reality that views and opinions regarding China's soft power are fairly diverse both in China and in the international arena. Soft power is a useful and important perspective by which to understand Chinese foreign policy and the future evolution of China's role in international politics. This study is a pioneering work, providing a new perspective for the study of Chinese foreign policy and the rise of China that will appeal to scholars of Chinese foreign policy
eBook
Media, Social Mobilisation and Mass Protests in Post-colonial Hong Kong
Since 2003, Hong Kong has witnessed a series of large-scale protests which have constituted the core of a reinvigorated pro-democracy movement. What drove tens of thousands of citizens to the street on a yearly basis to protest? What were the social and organizational bases of the protest movement? How did media and public discourses affect the protests’ formation and mobilization? How did the protesters understand their own actions and the political environment? This book tackles such questions by using a wide range of methods, including population and protest onsite surveys, media content analysis, and in-depth interviews with activists, politicians, and protest participants. It provides an account of the \"self-mobilization processes\" behind the historic July 1, 2003 protest, and how the protest kick-started new political dynamics and discursive contestations in the public arena which not only turned a single protest into a series of collective actions constituting a movement, but also continually shaped the movement’s characteristics and influence. The book is highly pertinent to readers interested in political development in Hong Kong, and as a case study on \"the power of critical events,\" the book also has broad implications on the study of both media politics and social movements in general.
1. Introduction: From a Critical Event to Ritualistic Protests 2. Public Opinion on the Eve of Explosion 3. Organization, Communication, and Mobilization 4. The Reshaping of Public Discourse 5. Constructing the Call for Democracy 6. Contextual Changes and Strategic Responses 7. Development of the Movement Organization 8. The Social Bases of Continual Protests 9. Making Sense of Participation 10. The June 4 Connection
Francis L. F. Lee is Associate Professor at the School of Journalism and Communication, Chinese University of Hong Kong. Joseph M. Chan is Professor of Journalism and Communication at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He also served as the Changjiang Chair Professor of Journalism at Fudan University, Shanghai.
The authors also co-edited Media and Politics in Post-handover Hong Kong (also published by Routledge, 2008).
eBook
China and Globalization
Choice Outstanding Academic Title 2009!
In its quarter-century-long shift from communism to capitalism, China has transformed itself from a desperately poor nation into a country with one of the fastest-growing and largest economies in the world. Doug Guthrie examines the reforms driving the economic genesis in this compact and highly readable introduction to contemporary China. He highlights the social, cultural and political factors fostering this revolutionary change and interweaves a broad structural analysis with a consideration of social changes at the micro and macro levels.
In this new, revised edition author Guthrie updates his story on modern China and provides the latest authoritative data and examples from current events to chart where this dynamically changing society is headed and what the likely consequences for the rest of the world will be.
eBook
The Concrete Plateau
In The Concrete Plateau , Andrew Grant examines the ways
that urbanization has extended into the Tibetan Plateau. Many
people still think of Tibetans as not being urban, or that if they
do live in cities, this means that they have lost something. Much
of this is relates to the expectation that urbanization can only
erode essential aspects of Tibetan culture. Grant pushes back
against this notion through his in-depth exploration of Tibetans'
experiences with urban life in the growing city of Xining, the
largest city on the Tibetan Plateau.
Grant shows how Tibetans' actions to sustain their community
challenge China's civilizing machine : a product of
state-led urbanization that seeks to marginalize ethnic and
indigenous groups. In their homes, neighborhoods, and businesses,
Tibetans' assertion of cultural identity and modification of the
built environment has prevented their assimilation into China's
national urban project. The Concrete Plateau presents
insights into the politics of urban development not only in Tibet
and China, but to contexts of urban diversity all around world. Its
findings are important for studies of urban development in the
Global South where in-migrating ethnic and indigenous groups are
negotiating top-down urban projects. Grant's book offers a profound
rethinking of urbanization, rurality, culture, and the politics of
place.
eBook
China: The Pessoptimist Nation
The rise of China presents a long-term challenge to the world not only economically, but politically and culturally. Callahan meets this challenge in China: The Pessoptimist Nation by using new Chinese sources and innovative analysis to see how Chinese people understand their new place in the world. To chart the trajectory of its rise, the book shifts from examining China's national interests to exploring its national aesthetic. Rather than answering the standard social science question \"what is China?\" with statistics of economic and military power, this book asks \"when, where, and who is China?\" to explore the soft power dynamics of China's identity politics. China: The Pessoptimist Nation shows how the heart of Chinese foreign policy is not a security dilemma, but an identity dilemma. Through careful analysis, Callahan charts how Chinese identity emerges through the interplay of positive and negative feelings in a dynamic that intertwines China's domestic and international politics. China thus is the pessoptimist nation where national security is closely linked to nationalist insecurities. Callahan concludes that this interactive view of China's pessoptimist identity means that we need to rethink the role of the state and public opinion in Beijing's foreign policy-making.
eBook