“Conceptions of Democracy on Taiwan and the Chinese Mainland”
Professor David Lorenzo, College of International Affairs, Chengchi National University, Taiwan and author of Concepts of Chinese Democracy (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2013).
Tuesday, February 4, 4:00 – 6:00 p.m.
Eilts Room, Department of International Relations | 154 Bay State Road, 2nd Floor
Boston University Center for the Study of Asia (BUCSA)
China Policy is an impressive commercial website that has been sending me teasers…and the most recent one contains a bit I thought I’d share: a fascinating essay by a contemporary Chinese political theorist critiquing the idea that China ought to pursue a form of “new authoritarianism” that will lead ultimately to democracy. Instead, says Rong Jian, it may well lead to fascism. I think this link will take you to the page with the essay.
Two recently published books deserve our attention:
P.J. Ivanhoe, Confucian Reflections: Ancient Wisdom for Modern Times (Routledge, 2013); this rich and concise book “…argues that the Analects is as relevant and important today as it has proven to be over the course of its more than 2000 year history, not only for the people who live in East Asian societies but for all human beings.”
Joseph Chan, Confucian Perfectionism: A Political Philosophy for Modern Times (Princeton, 2013); a long-awaited major statement of Chan’s modern Confucianism, it “…examines and reconstructs both Confucian political thought and liberal democratic institutions, blending them to form a new Confucian political philosophy.”
A new survey — which looks at perceptions of one another on the part of various US and Chinese “elite” groups as well as the broader populace — contains some fascinating data. Interesting to look at the views of “scholars” as opposed to other elite groups, though not surprising that we scholars are more likely to see one another as “partners” than as competitors or enemies. The various perspectives on the role(s) of “culture” as also broadly relevant to our concerns here.
Virginia Tech has a job out in Contemporary Global Ethical / Political Thought. Some of you might be interested in it. The job add can be found at https://listings.jobs.vt.edu/postings/43271.
Confucian Rituals and Chinese Villagers:
Ritual Change and Social Transformation in a Southeastern Chinese Community, 1368-1949
Brill 2013
In Confucian Rituals and Chinese Villagers, Yonghua Liu presents a detailed study of how a southeastern Chinese community experienced and responded to the process whereby Confucian rituals – previously thought unfit for practice by commoners – were adopted in the Chinese countryside and became an integral part of village culture, from the mid fourteenth to mid twentieth centuries.
The book examines the important but understudied ritual specialists, masters of rites (lisheng), and their ritual handbooks while showing their crucial role in the ritual life of Chinese villagers. This discussion of lisheng and their rituals deepens our understanding of the ritual aspect of popular Confucianism and sheds new light on social and cultural transformations in late imperial China.
Yonghua Liu, Ph.D. (McGill, 2004), is Professor of History at Xiamen University, China. He has published over two dozen articles on economic, social, and cultural history of late imperial China.
Confucian Marxism:
A Reflection on Religion and Global Justice
Brill 2013
Buttressed by an autocratic system, China’s colossal economic growth over the past decades seems to have had the paradoxical effect of undermining the foundation of Western domination but at the same time invigorating Eurocentricism. In particular, it highlights the current relevance of the central conviction of Weber’s Orient: the absence of civic roots in non-Western societies will create a kind of “uncivic” capitalist system in which one has no choice but to seek to compensate for instabilities through authoritarian institutions. Does this mean that the West may alone afford to harmonize political stability with the universalistic ideal of justice as the basic structure of society? If not, how then is it possible to develop a notion of the primacy of social justice that transcends the limits of liberal democracy? This book aims at addressing these timely questions by drawing on “Confucian Marxism”—a distinctive perspective on civil society.
Weigang Chen, Ph. D. (Religious Studies, Harvard University 2000), is on the faculty of philosophy and religious studies at University of Macau, with research interests in religion and global politics. He is a member of the editorial board of Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy.
The Center for East Asian and Comparative Philosophy (CEACOP) at City University of Hong Kong and Rowman and Littlefield International are announcing a new monograph series entitled the CEACOP Series in East Asian Comparative Ethics, Politics, and Philosophy of Law. This series, edited by Philip J. Ivanhoe, Sungmoon Kim, and Eirik Lang Harris, will publish path-breaking and field-defining works in East Asian comparative ethics with a special interest in works of normative and applied ethics, political theory, and philosophy of law. More information can be found at http://www6.cityu.edu.hk/ceacop/CEACOP_series.html
Difference and Tolerance: A South-South Conversation
The conference will be held on March 13-14, 2014 in London. Funding is available to support travel and accommodation for a limited number of participants. Please send a paper title and brief abstract to conference organizers by November 30, 2013 at cpt2014@yahoo.com
A new book titled The East Asian Challenge for Democracy: Political Meritocracy in Comparative Perspective, coedited by Daniel Bell and Chenyang Li, has just been published by Cambridge University Press. It is an interdisciplinary work with contributions by leading historians, social scientists, and philosophers. It is the first book in decades to examine the rise (or revival) of political meritocracy and what it will mean for political developments in China and the rest of the world. It also reminds us that there are political alternatives to electoral democracy and military dictatorship. Here is the link on amazon, where you’ll see a brief endorsement from me (among other people).
