William A. Callahan

History, identity, and security: Producing and consuming nationalism in China

Abstract Chinese nationalism has ignited much debate among academics and the general public in both China and the West. Rather than search for the true core of Chinese nationalism, this essay will examine the curious custom of National Humiliation Day as an oblique entry into the politics of identity. The nation is not simply a question of people or territory, the author contends, but of time: the national time scripted by events such as National Humiliation Day. By comparing the differing practices of the holiday as it was celebrated in the early twentieth century and is observed in the early twenty-first century, the author argues that in the early twentieth century the political performances aimed to produce a proper Chinese nation out of the clashes between the Qing dynasty, northern warlords, and foreign empires. The goal was to construct a “China” worthy of being saved. When National Humiliation Day was revived in China at the turn of the twenty-first century, the political performances were more focused on containing the nation through a commemoration of the various crises of the early twentieth century. Thus the essay will argue that the nation does not arise from the ideology of its leaders, as much as through popular performances such as National Humiliation Day. Hence it shows how politics is best analyzed as a series of performances, not just by state actors in official sites like the Foreign Ministry, but also through the cultural governance of less official sites in art, film, literature — and public holidays. In this way, National Humiliation Day activities go beyond producing and containing nationalism; Chinese people are also consuming nationalism as part of a symbolic economy that generates identity.

Social Capital and Corruption: Vote Buying and the Politics of Reform in Thailand

I offer a critical view of the social capital thesis, which frequently argues that more is better (and less is worse), by examining the ethics of social capital, using Pierre Bourdieus understanding of networks as defined by their limits. I argue that social capital only assumes conceptual coherence when distinguished from its complementary opposite. I illustrate these theoretical points with a discussion of political reform in Thailand and the 2001 general election. The election exemplifies the benefits of the circulation of social capital: voter turnout and party membership were up, and civil society was active. Yet democratic achievements in Thailand were intimately tied to political corruption. In Thailand, democracy and vote buying are intimately related as examples of the productive dynamic of social capital and corruption; the civil and the uncivil often produce each other. This essay thus expands social capital theorys focus on the relations of people by examining the relationality of concepts. One has to examine the quality of social capital and the ethics of each networks inside/outside distinction. Thus rather than being a political solution, social capital is a theoretical problem, warranting further comparative research that examines how civil social capital interacts with the uncivil social capital of corruption, ethnocentrism, and sectarianism.

The Cartography of National Humiliation and the Emergence of China's Geobody

Like a debutante on the world stage, China has been modeling national images for its ongoing coming-out party. After decades of revolutionary diplomacy that challenged the international system, since the 1990s the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has worked hard to ease the concerns of countries that used to be targets of its revolutionary activities. China as a “peacefully rising” great power that aims to create a “harmonious world” is Beijing’s latest narrative that seeks to present the PRC to the world as a cuddly panda rather than a ravenous dragon. Maps are an important part of the continual self-crafting of any nation’s image. As the Chinese maps examined here will show, the very material borders between foreign and domestic space are the outgrowth of the symbolic workings of historical geography and the conventions of Chinese cartography. These maps do much more than celebrate the extent of Chinese sovereignty; they also mourn the loss of national territories through a cartography of national humiliation. In this way, the messy geopolitics of disputed borders is informed by the contingent biopolitics of identity practices.

How to understand China: the dangers and opportunities of being a rising power

Chinas situation lends itself to hyperbole. The Peoples Republic of China (PRC) has the largest population in the world, the fastest growing economy in the world, the largest army in the world, the largest middle class in the world, a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council, a manned space programme, a nuclear arsenal, and so on. But analysts, commentators and policymakers have yet to decide just how to understand China.

Sino-speak: Chinese Exceptionalism and the Politics of History

This article examines how recent books by academics and public intellectuals are reshaping the discourse of the rise of China. While earlier trends argued that China was being socialized into the norms of international society, many texts now proclaim that due to its unique civilization, China will follow its own path to modernity. Such books thus look to the past—Chinas imperial history—for clues to not only Chinas future, but also the worlds future. This discourse, which could be called “Sino-speak,” presents an essentialized Chinese civilization that is culturally determined to rule Asia, if not the world. The article notes that nuanced readings of Chinas historical relations with its East Asian neighbors provide a critical entry into a more sophisticated analysis of popular declarations of “Chinese exceptionalism.” But it concludes that this critical analysis is largely overwhelmed by the wave of Sino-speak.

Pollwatching, Elections and Civil Society in Southeast Asia

Part 1 overview of the elections and pollwatchers: pollwatch organization - pollwatch objectives, pollwatch 3, volunteer recruitment, volunteers role, volunteers background electioneering - campaign organizations, canvassing, rallies, electronic rallies, vote-buying, violence pollwatch activities -monitoring, legal problems, complaints section, border patrol police, decentralization, biased officials pollwatch activities -civic education campaigns, democratic forum, cultural projects, oc-cultural projects, regional posters, leaflets, anti-vote-buying, committee campaigns, cassette tapes, videos, special campaigns. Part 2 Civil society in Thailand and the Philippines: civil society -political theory and civil society, civil society in the Philippines, the state - comelec, civil society - citizens arms, NAMFREL scandals, PPCRV and votecare, affect on Philippine civil society parallels - from civic organization to mass movement, NAMFREL and the democratic movement, pollwatch and the democratic movement divergences - relations with the state, government oriented NGOs (GONGOs), fostered independence, pollwatch as a GONGO, relations with the state bodies, bureaucratization, relations with NGOs, neutrality parallels - alternative political cultures, religion and politics in the Philippines, morality and politics in Thailand, politics of influence, pollwatchs response to vote-buying culture addressing political corruption in Southeast Asia - elections and manipulation in Indonesia, the politics of corruption in Singapore and Malaysia, avenues for anti-corruption reform in Southeast Asia, conclusion. Postscript: the election commission of Thailand.

China’s “Asia Dream” The Belt Road Initiative and the new regional order

Since Xi Jinping became leader in 2012, he has redirected Chinese foreign policy. This article examines the role of peripheral diplomacy in Xi’s emerging grand strategy. While it is popular to look to theories of the international system – offensive realism and liberal institutionalism – to explore this issue, this article follows constructivism to take seriously the role of ideas and domestic politics in foreign policy-making. Through an analysis of official and unofficial sources, it traces linkages between ideas, institutions, and behavior in Chinese foreign policy. In particular, it argues that Beijing is combining new ideas (China Dream, Asia Dream), new policies (comprehensive diplomacy and security), new institutions (AIIB) and new projects (BRI) to build what Xi calls the ‘community of shared destiny.’ The goal is to weave neighboring countries into a Sino-centric network of economic, political, cultural, and security relations. Beijing’s grand strategy thus is to re-constitute the regional order – and eventually global order – with new governance ideas, norms, and rules. Hence while the Asian region is an important focus of Chinese foreign policy, Beijing’s peripheral diplomacy is about more than win-win cooperation in the neighborhood. It also acts as the means to the much larger end of promoting China’s new vision of global governance. Theoretically, the article shows how ‘connectivity’ is more than an issue of the ‘hardware’ of physical infrastructure; it is also a ‘software’ issue of the connectivity of ideas, institutions, and behavior in diplomacy itself.

Future imperfect: The European Union's encounter with China (and the United States)

Abstract There has been much talk in recent years about an emerging EU-China axis that challenges the United States in a new strategic triangle. The EU-China strategic partnership, which was declared in 2003, suggests that both sides are gaining global influence as a new kind of superpower that seeks to avoid the bloody conflict that characterized the Cold War. Rather than discuss the contours of this new geopolitical axis, this essay argues that EU-China relations are shifting the meaning of security in an emerging arena of global symbolic politics. It analyzes the symbolic politics of EU-China relations through a close reading of two sets of documents: (1) official policy papers from the European Commission and the PRCs State Council, and (2) European think-tank working papers on China policy. It argues that these documents write the narrative of EU-China relations in ways that limit discussion to a specific narrow range of topics. After outlining Europes approach to the rise of China, it examines how language politics guides Chinas engagement with the EU. Then it explores how European think tanks follow the concept of ‘Europeanization’ to frame both how the EU seeks to transform China, and how China policy can help transform the EU. This shows how the rhetorical form of often ambiguous official pronouncements is key in the construction of the content of EU-China relations. The essay concludes that although EU-China relations are getting stronger, predictions of an EU-China axis are over-blown in the sense of being an action to be completed sometime in the indefinite future – ‘future imperfect’. Yet while EU-China relations are unlikely to construct a shared sense of a Eurasian self, the major legacy of recent EU-China ties is likely to be found in the negative identity politics of creating the US as the shared Other. This new global symbolic politics will have a serious impact on the USs concrete relations with China and the EU.

Identity and Security in China: The Negative Soft Power of the China Dream:

Joseph Nye concentrates on the positive attractive aspects of soft power as a foreign policy tool. This article will argue that the Chinese discussion of soft power is interesting because it does the opposite: soft power is negative rather than positive, and is employed as a tool in domestic policy more than in foreign affairs. It will use Chinese President Xi Jinpings new ‘China Dream’ discourse to explore Chinas ‘negative soft power’ strategy. Rather than take for granted that we understand what the ‘Chinese values’ are that inform the PRCs soft power, it argues that soft power discourse is a useful heuristic device for understanding how Chinese policy makers and public intellectuals are actively constructing a ‘China’ and a ‘world’ to promote regime legitimacy. The Chinese case thus suggests that we need a more complex view of power that considers the contingent dynamics of its hard/soft, positive/negative, foreign/domestic aspects.

Shanghai's alternative futures: The World Expo, citizen intellectuals, and China's new civil society

Civil society seems to be a dead issue in China because its formal aspects of mobilization and institutionalization are so tightly regulated by the party-state. This article looks to activities in and around the Shanghai World Expo (2010) to rethink the meaning of civil society and political action in China. Through an analysis of the Expo’s national, theme, and corporate pavilions, it shows how Beijing is planning a harmonious future for China and the world. Yet alongside this unified future, it examines how Shanghai’s citizen intellectuals – filmmaker Jia Zhangke, artist Cai Guoqiang, and blogger Han Han – are creating alternative futures. This multiple decentralized view of the future is an integral part of building alternative notions of civil society in China. The article thus has two goals: (1) to contrast official constructions of a unified harmonious future with citizen intellectuals’ multilayered views of Shanghai’s past-present-future; and (2) to explore how citizen intellectuals are creating a new civil society that can build alternative futures.