China’s Rise and Rethinking International Relations Theory

✍ Scribed by Chengxin Pan (editor); Emilian Kavalski (editor)

• Publisher: Bristol University Press
• Year: 2022
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 268
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Bringing together leading scholars from Asia and the West, this book investigates how the dynamics of China’s rise in world politics contributes to theory-building in International Relations (IR). The book demonstrates how the complex and transformative nature of China’s advancement is also a point of departure for theoretical innovation and reflection in IR more broadly. In doing so, the volume builds a strong case for a genuinely global and post-Western IR. It contends that ‘non-Western’ countries should not only be considered potential sources of knowledge production, but also original and legitimate focuses of IR theorizing in their own right.

✦ Table of Contents

Front Cover
Series page
China's Rise and Rethinking International Relations Theory
Copyright information
Table of contents
List of abbreviations
Notes on Contributors
Acknowledgments
Part I Theorizing China’s Rise: Beyond Eurocentric Knowledge Production
1 Putting China in the World: From Universal Theory to Contextual Theorizing
Introduction
‘Familiar’ analogies and the limited geographic origins of IR theory
The making and the travels of dominant IR theory
What China can do for IR theorizing
Chinese IR narratives
The politics of the IR narratives
Conclusion
References
2 Heart and Soul for World Politics: Advaita Monism and Daoist Trialectics in International Relations
Introduction
China’s rise: implications for IR
Critique
Advaita monism and Daoist trialectics: connectedness and compassion
Advaita monism
Darsana
Dharma
Ayurveda
Daoist trialectics
Non-duality with duality
Advaitic-Daoist IR: a pool of multiple worlds
China’s rise reappraised
Conclusion: what is next?
Acknowledgements
References
3 What Can Guanxi International Relations Be About?
Introduction
Guanxi: what’s in a name?
What might we guanxi about in IR?
Guanxi’s harmonious respect for the other
Guanxi’s logic of relationships
Guanxi’s community of practice
Conclusion: what is ‘post-Western’ about post-Western IR?
Acknowledgements
References
4 Friendly Rise? China, the West and the Ontology of Relations
Introduction
Remembering friendship: ancient and modern
International Relations and the ‘ontology of things’
International Relations and the ‘ontology of relations’: Qin, Berenskötter and Ling
Qin: guanxi (关系) and dialectics
Berenskötter: friendship and anxiety
Ling: the intimacy of ‘self and other’, and the possibility of multiple worlds
Conclusion: rediscovering friendship in international relations
Acknowledgements
References
5 Re-Worlding the ‘West’ in Post-Western International Relations: The ‘Theory Migrant’ of Tianxia in the Anglosphere
Introduction
A post-Western genealogy of Tianxia
Interpretations of Tianxia by contemporary Chinese scholars
The reception of ‘Tianxia’ in the Anglosphere: exoticization and denial
The reception of Tianxia in the Anglosphere: collusion and absorption
Conclusion
Acknowledgements
References
Part II Theorizing China’s Rise: Critical Reflection on Mainstream Frameworks
6 China in the International Order: A Contributor or a Challenger?
What is ‘China’?
What is ‘international order’?
Power distribution and rules of the game
Contemporary power distribution: one, two, three and multi
Rules of the game: continuity and adjustment
China’s general attitudes towards the international order
Differentiated positions on the ‘rules of the game’
‘Co-evolution’: responding to disorder by strengthening order
References
7 China’s Rise in English School Perspective
Introduction
China in English School perspective
China in the normative structure of a deep pluralist GIS
Obsolete institutions
Classical ‘Westphalian’ institutions
Newer institutions
Emerging/contested institutions
‘Chinese characteristics’ as challenges for English School theory
Hierarchy
‘Face’
Conclusions
Strengths
Weaknesses
Acknowledgements
References
8 Deconstructing the Established Westphalian Architecture in Light of China’s Rise
Introduction
Asia as a hybrid space for theorization
China’s rise as a precondition for the Eastphalian idea
Recognizing Eastphalian ideas
Chinese resistance and exchangeable behaviours: four mechanisms
Conclusion
Acknowledgements
References
9 Sino-capitalism’s Dialectical Processes and International Relations Theory
The changing China debate and IR theory
The dialectical logic of Sino-capitalism
Sino-capitalism in the global system
Conclusion: enriching IR theory with dialectical perspectives
References
10 China’s Rise as Holographic Transition: A Relational Challenge to International Relations’ Newtonian Ontology
Introduction
The Newtonian ontology in IR and its discontents
The promise of a holographic relational ontology
What’s in a part? Introducing a holographic relational ontology
International relations as holographic relations: implications for theorizing and methodology
China’s rise as holographic transition
China in the world and the world in China
A holographic critique of mainstream International Relations theorizing of China’s rise
Conclusion
Acknowledgements
References
Epilogue: Towards International Relations beyond Binaries
Introduction
Key themes
Encountering China’s rise
Pluralizing the practices of IR theory
Engaging the relationality of global life
Projecting the future trajectories of China’s rise
Conclusion
References
Index
Back Cover