Contemporary Chinese Political Thought

Westerners seem united in the belief that China has emerged as a major economic power and that this success will continue indefinitely. But they are less certain what shape China's political system will take. China's steps toward free market capitalism have opened up the country, increasing hopes that these new developments will increase democratization and lead to the establishment of a more Western political system. The Chinese, however, have developed their own version of capitalism, and those outside of China have trouble seeing outside their own ideologies to understand Chinese goals and policies. In Chinese Political Thought Today, leading Chinese intellectuals analyze and debate the main political ideas shaping their rapidly changing nation. The West tends to see Chinese politics as monolithic, but the contributors to this volume demonstrate the variety of ideas and debates happening in the country today. Contributors examine the advantages and disadvantages of the popular "China Model" or "China Consensus" theory, which is defined by mixed ownership, individual property rights, and government intervention in the economy. Other contributors investigate the resurgence of Chinese Confucianism and its applications to the modern world. Other major strands of thought include "New Leftism" (post-Mao leftism), liberal socialism, and the need for a strong government to mediate the relationship between rapid economic growth and political stability. Chinese Political Thought Today can help non-Chinese scholars and students to move beyond their usual analytical frameworks toward what the volume's editors call "a dismantling of ideological straitjackets." As our first reader says, "There is a sore need for a work which introduces the diverse strands of Chinese political thinking to an Anglophone audience, and this book is the best I've seen so far."