The Spirit of Chinese Politics

The Spirit of Chinese Politics
Author: Lucian W. Pye
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Total Pages: 292
Release: 1992
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9780674832404

Lucian Pye, one of the most knowledgeable observers of China, unfolds in this book a deep psychological analysis of Chinese political culture. The dynamics of the Cultural Revolution, the behavior of the Red Guards, and the compulsions of Mao Tse-tung are among the important symptoms examined. But Pye goes behind large events, exploring the more enduring aspects of Chinese culture and the stable elements of the national psychology as they have been manifested in traditional, Republican, and Communist periods. He also scans several possible paths of future development. The emphasis is on the roles long played by authority, order, hierarchy, and emotional quietism in Chinese political culture as shaped by the Confucian tradition and the institution of filial piety, and the resulting confusions brought about by the displacements of these traditions in the face of political change and modernization. In this new edition Pye adds a chapter on the basic tension between consensus and conflict in the operation of Chinese politics, illustrating the "spirit" in action, and another discussing the great gap that persists between the worlds of the political leadership and of society at large in post-Tiananmen China.

Asian Power and Politics

Asian Power and Politics
Author: Lucian W. PYE
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Total Pages: 431
Release: 2009-06-30
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0674042417

In a major new book, Lucian Pye reconceptualizes Asian political development as a product of cultural attitudes about power and authority. He contrasts the great traditions of Confucian East Asia with the Southeast Asian cultures and the South Asian traditions of Hinduism and Islam, and explores the national differences within these larger civilizations. Breaking with modern political theory, Pye believes that power differs profoundly from one culture to another. In Asia the masses of the people are group-oriented and respectful of authority, while their leaders are more concerned with dignity and upholding collective pride than with problem-solving. As culture decides the course of political development, Pye shows how Asian societies, confronted with the task of setting up modern nation-states, respond by fashioning paternalistic forms of power that satisfy their deep psychological craving for security. This new paternalism may appear essentially authoritarian to Western eyes, but Pye maintains that it is a valid response to the people's needs and will ensure community solidarity and strong group loyalties. He predicts that we are certain to see emerging from Asia's accelerating transformation some new version of modern society that may avoid many of the forms of tension common to Western civilization but may also produce a whole new set of problems. This book revitalizes Asian political studies on a plane that comprehends the large differences between Asia and the West and at the same time is sensitive to the subtle variations among the many Asian cultures. Its comparative perspective will provide indispensable insights to anyone who wishes to think more deeply about the modern Asian states.

Chinese Politics Illustrated: The Cultural, Social, And Historical Context

Chinese Politics Illustrated: The Cultural, Social, And Historical Context
Author: Lance Liangping Gore
Publisher: World Scientific Publishing Company
Total Pages: 410
Release: 2014-06-11
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9814546763

This unique book offers the readers a ring-side seat to watch the drama of Chinese politics as it is experienced by the players themselves. It provides an opportunity for non-Chinese readers to get a feel of the intricacies of contemporary Chinese politics as they are played out in real-life situations. The vivid stories contained in this book offers the students of Chinese politics from the English-speaking world a rare glimpse that is unfiltered by the cultural and ideological assumptions as well as by the conceptual framework developed in Western political science, and how these create systematic biases and blind spots in understanding politics in a very different cultural and historical context.In between the collection of short stories and the author's highlights, this book illustrates key areas of Chinese politics and society: elite politics, political structure and power distribution, political culture and social networks (guanxi), state-society relations, policy and decision making, political participation, contentious politics, political economy of development etc. It provides a succinct description of the Chinese political system, the patterns of politics arising from it, as well as the cultural, social and historical legacies that continue to drive Chinese politics. As such, this book is not only suitable for students of politics but also for Western business people and policy makers trying to understand and navigate the unfamiliar and treacherous waters of the Chinese politics.

Chinese Political Culture

Chinese Political Culture
Author: Shiping Hua
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 389
Release: 2016-07-08
Genre: History
ISBN: 1315500485

Until this book, there has been no comprehensive, methodologically aware study of all aspects of Chinese political culture. The book is organized into three major areas: Chinese identities and popular culture (regional identities, anti-politics attitudes, Hong Kong identity); public opinion surveys (the Beijing area, Chinese workers, the Shanghai area); and ideological debates (the "new" Confucianism, masculinity and Confucianism, why authoritarianism is popular in China, the decline of Chinese official ideology). Here is the first work that reveals just how much, how rapidly, and how dramatically China is changing and why our perceptions of China must keep pace.

Politics in China

Politics in China
Author: William A. Joseph
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 457
Release: 2010
Genre: History
ISBN: 0195335309

Sixty years ago, China was one of the poorest countries in the world, populated mostly by rural peasants, and still suffering from more than a century of internal turmoil and international humiliation. Today, China is a rapidly modernizing economic dynamo with growing global influence. Politics in China is an authoritative introduction to how this transformation occurred, and how China is governed today. Written by an international team of highly-regarded China scholars, each chapter offers an accessible overview of a key topic in Chinese politics. The opening section provides readers with a firm grounding in China's modern political history, from the fall of the last imperial dynasty through era of communist rule under Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping, and their successors. The next section covers the political system, with chapters on Communist Party ideology, the structure of the political system, and the policies behind the country's spectacular economic performance. The book then focuses on several major issues in China today: politics in the countryside and the cities; the arts; the environment; public health; and population policy. The final chapters cover politics in four important areas located on China's geographic periphery: Tibet, Xinjiang, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Comprehensive and fully up to date in its coverage, Politics in China is essential not only for students studying contemporary China, but for any reader interested in learning how this rising power has evolved in recent times and the workings of its current political system.

Politics of Culture and the Spirit of Critique

Politics of Culture and the Spirit of Critique
Author: Seyla Benhabib
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Total Pages: 217
Release: 2011
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0231151861

This book of tightly woven dialogues engages prominent thinkers in a discussion about the role of culture-broadly construed-in contemporary society and politics. Faced with the conceptual inflation of the notion of 'culture,' which now imposes itself as an indispensable issue in contemporary moral and political debates, these dynamic exchanges seek to rethink culture and critique beyond the schematic models that have often predominated, such as the opposition between "mainstream multiculturalism" and the "clash of civilizations." Prefaced by an introduction relating current cultural debates to the critical theory tradition, this book examines the politics of culture and the spirit of critique from three different vantage points. To begin, Gabriel Rockhill and Alfredo Gomez-Muller provide a stage-setting dialogue, followed by discussions with two major representatives of contemporary critical theory: Seyla Benhabib and Nancy Fraser. Working at the horizons of this tradition, Judith Butler, Immanuel Wallerstein, and Cornel West then provide important critical perspectives on cultural politics. The book's concluding section engages with Michael Sandel and Will Kymlicka, who work out of the Rawlsian tradition yet are uniquely concerned with the issue of culture, broadly understood. The epilogue, an interview with Axel Honneth, returns to the core issue of critical theory in cultural politics. Ranging from recent developments and progressive interventions in critical theory to dialogues that incorporate its insights into larger discussions of social and political philosophy, this book sharpens old critical tools while developing new strategies for rethinking the role of 'culture' in contemporary society.