Revolution and Reform: the role of ideology and hegemony in Chinese politics

This paper aims to further an understanding of Chinese politics through a focus on ideology and hegemony. Drawing on the writings of Antonio Gramsci and Henri Lefebvre, the paper examines the nature of ideological domination held by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and generates three implications. First, Gramsci's theory of hegemony can be applied more broadly to build a socialist regime, particularly in China where the party of the proletariat and its allies have been in a quandary over how to consolidate its ruling position after capturing political power. Second, the party needs to incorporate mass consciousness into the battlefield of politics so as to attain or maintain its hegemony. Third, the ideologies of revolution and reform are formulated to embed the CCP's beliefs into people's consciousness and to acquire consensus which is essential for the CCP's hegemony in China.     

Dissent and the emergence of civil society in post‐totalitarian China

There are several theories which argue that dissent is the precursor of civil society in totalitarian regimes. Several factors contribute to the emergence of dissent in these regimes, yet it remains to be proven in the case of China, whether this can be interpreted as the emergence of a civil society that feels it has the inalienable right to criticize the regime; to disagree with its policies; to remind authorities of their duties, obligations and laws; and to advocate alternative policies for the government to pursue. The response of the Chinese Communist Party to dissident challenges to its monopolistic moral authority provides some insight into the changing nature of the regime itself, particularly with the political and economic imperatives of modernization. Generally intellectuals and students, who have varying conceptions of the nature of the relationship between the government and its people, have been the voices of dissent. Despite these variations however, there has been consistency on the basic principles of respect for human rights and the rule of law. Formally organized programs of action, aside from the 1949 Revolution, have never really been developed which, along with a lack of organizational strength and with a vulnerability to repressive Party measures, is a primary weakness in the dissident movement. Whether dissidents enjoy the support of the Chinese people is debatable, because it is primarily though not exclusively, an urban based movement. Nevertheless, dissent in China is growing and being expressed by different sectors of the population which is an indication of the increasing consciousness of the Chinese people to their rights and responsibilities as citizens that go beyond the dictates of the Chinese Communist Party. In other words, dissent and the emergence of civil society in China are inextricably intertwined.     

Homeowners United: the attempt to create lateral networks of homeowners' associations in urban China

Under the slogan of ‘weiquan’ (defending our rights), homeowners in urban China are increasingly prepared to stand up for their rights of ownership, often through non-confrontational actions organized by homeowners' associations (yeweihui). There is also a growing concern for the need to create collective platforms on which homeowners' associations can support one another, muster their collective resources against powerful developers and lobby for status as legitimate organizations. The activists involved in this work are well aware of its political sensitivity in a regime that is antagonistic towards autonomous organizations, which are seen as posing a threat to its hegemony. Based on a case study in Guangzhou, this paper traces the tactics that housing activists have employed to create horizontal cooperation among homeowners' associations to defend their rights and devise ‘boundary-spanning’ strategies that exploit divisions within the state apparatus. The Guangzhou union of homeowners' associations can be regarded as an experiment in organizational infrastructure which has far-reaching implications. This study sheds light on the complexities as well as the institutional fluidity of state–society interactions in contemporary urban China.     

面对文化歧视的加拿大华人

加拿大华人社会从19世纪中叶至今,经历了巨大的社会文化变迁,老移民团体在制度性种族歧视下受到了各种限制与压迫。新移民团体在不平等法案法规废除以后,通过社会流动取得了一些改善与进步。“唐人街”(中国城)的产生、发展及加拿大华人群体面对文化霸权所进行的各种适应性改变,体现了他们在面对白人社会主流文化涵化与融合的过程。加拿大华人自身对于苦难的承受力也促使他们形成新的文化身份,争取到更加有利的发展空间。     

论社会科学迁移中的文化安全问题

西方社会科学是随着资本主义发展而产生的一种地缘文化,是维护现代世界体系中处于霸权地位的西方中心国家利益的认知符号体系。它具有统治、制约边缘国家的性质。当西方社会科学来到我国,就有可能嬗变为意识形态,危及我国的文化安全和社会主义建设。我国应该构建立足于本土和社会公正的批判社会科学。     

战后美国霸权的经济实质及其未来——重读列宁《帝国主义是资本主义的最高阶段》的启示

运用列宁关于帝国主义的思想来剖析今天的美国霸权,仍然具有重要的理论意义和实践价值.战后美国霸权的经济实质是美元霸权.美元霸权推动美国经济日益加深其寄生性和腐朽性.美国维系美元霸权,追求垄断利润的目的,日益推动其成为21世纪全球战争的最大策源地,并将最终导致美国的衰落.     

论意识形态视域下的中国特色社会主义理论体系

中国特色社会主义理论体系作为马克思主义中国化的最新理论成果,具有科学性、实践性、开放性、批判性的理论品格,是中国社会主义初级阶段的主流意识形态,是全国各族人民团结奋斗的共同思想基础。在新世纪新阶段,中国特色社会主义理论体系能够充分发挥强大的理论导向功能、实践指导功能、凝聚功能,能够凝聚全国各族人民团结奋斗,是实现中华民族伟大复兴的行动指南。     

Chinese Views of US Hegemony

In the past several years, Chinese analysts have acknowledged that the United States possesses a vast amount of power and influence, which has allowed it to act in arrogant and often aggressive ways, and has fueled its ambitions of achieving global hegemony. While many PRC authors attribute to the US a coherent grand strategy of world domination, others have followed and assessed the debates that pervade US foreign policy-making, analyzed the nature of American hegemony, and critiqued the theoretical discussions on the subject carried out in US political science journals. Chinese analysts see both strengths and weaknesses in American hegemony, for while the country currently has superior comprehensive national power, there are also vulnerabilities in its economic and military strength, as well as in its relations with its allies. The views of Chinese authors are not uniform on the subject of US hegemony, however, for some believe that the US already is a hegemon, while others view America as a superpower seeking hegemony, or argue that the nation simply displays hegemonic behavior. Consequently there are several different schools of thought on the characteristics of US hegemony, as well as its tactics, goals and manifestations.     

Sino–Indian Climate Cooperation: implications for the international climate change regime

The international climate change regime is comprised of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and its Kyoto Protocol. Under the regime, China and India, two of the largest developing countries, have been exempted from any binding greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction targets that apply to developed countries. However, with their GHG emissions increasing, China and India have faced growing international pressure to undertake binding mitigation obligations in international climate change negotiations. To enhance their bargaining power in the negotiations, China and India have been cooperating with each other, which has not only led to a new approach to addressing climate change but also defended the ethical benchmark of the regime. In addition, their cooperation has weakened the EU's traditional leadership status and the leadership ambitions of the US such that China and India will now play a more important role in shaping the future of the regime.     

Washington's War Drums

Is Washington planning war with China over Taiwan? Hysteria is building across Washington as ruling circles fear the loss of the United States' global hegemony.     

Sovereignty Matters

Those who seek to demolish rule of law can't be appointed as keepers of law By most his torical accounts,China began to emerge as a nation-state with the Xinhai Revolution in 1911.The struggle was to transforam from a civilizationstate to a nation-state,per the model imposed then by the hegemony of Western political models.Those initial efforts were not successful。     

MULTILATERALISM UNDER NEW CIRCUMSTANCES

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the restoration of the People's Republic of China's lawful seat in the UN. With this historic event, the Chinese people, accounting for one fourth of the world's population, were able to return to the UN family. In the five decades since, China has stood for sovereign equality and non-interference in other countries' internal affairs, while opposing power politics and hegemony. It has safeguarded international justice, adhering to equity and impartiality, and opposed geopolitical rivalry and exclusive blocs. The country has also supported the political settle-ment of hotspot issues in line with the spirit of the UN Charter and stood up to the use of force or uni-lateral sanctions.     

冷战后美国东亚霸权护持与台湾问题

本文基于霸权护持理论,用地缘政治学和安全困境理论对美国的对华外交,特别是对台政策进行分析和解读。台湾问题并不仅仅是两国三边的关系。美国是将台湾问题纳入到其整个区域霸权乃至全球霸权护持的总体框架来考虑的。从地缘政治学角度分析,台湾具有重要的、不能替代的地缘战略价值:从"安全困境"理论角度分析,美国认为,使台湾与中国大陆以及东亚国家问陷入军备竞赛和"安全困境"是阻遏中国发展、护持其东亚霸权的—个成本较低和较有效的方法。因此,从和平统一台湾的角度,冷战后美国在台湾问题上扮演的更多将是消极的角色,问题只在于不同时期程度高低不同而已。     

浅论娱乐“霸权”对未成年人权利的侵害

娱乐市场运作中,部分利益集团取得了一定范围内的娱乐“霸权”.娱乐霸权形成了单向文化趣味的隐患,冲淡了文化内涵及思想厚度,且在一定意义上直指未成年人这一庞大的消费群体,剥夺了他们的选择权利,并对未成年人成长和教育提出了新的挑战.大众文化有其存在和生长的必然性,并非代表其他文化就应销声匿迹,未成年人更加需要文化方式的多样性,需要精品文化的陶冶.因此娱乐“霸权”现象应引起关注.     

Ready for RMB Reform

Now that the global recovery has taken hold and with the Chinese economy gaining ground,China's central bank-the People's Bank of China-has decided to proceed with reform of the renminbi(yuan)exchange rate regime and improve the flexibility.The central bank's spokesman on June 20 addressed a number of concerns over the issue in a statement posted on its website.Edited excerpts follow:     

浅论娱乐“霸权”对未成年人权利的侵害

娱乐市场运作中,部分利益集团取得了一定范围内的娱乐"霸权"。娱乐霸权形成了单向文化趣味的隐患,冲淡了文化内涵及思想厚度,且在一定意义上直指未成年人这一庞大的消费群体,剥夺了他们的选择权利,并对未成年人成长和教育提出了新的挑战。大众文化有其存在和生长的必然性,并非代表其他文化就应销声匿迹,未成年人更加需要文化方式的多样性,需要精品文化的陶冶。因此娱乐"霸权"现象应引起关注。     

Is China Ready for Full Yuan Convertibility?

Although China has made headway in reforming the exchange rate regime of its currency,the yuan,and expanding the use of it in cross-border trade during the past year,the yuan is far from fully convertible.Huang Yiping,a professor at the National School of Development of Peking University,said in an article for Beijing Review that China has the conditions for capital account liberalization and should strive for basic convertibility within five years. Edited excerpts follow     

西方内包制理论研究综述

内包制是经济转型时期我国民营企业一种重要的企业生产制度、组织形式与成长战略模式,但国内学术界对此的研究几近空白,为此,梳理与评介西方学术界有关内包制的基本概念、内包制的产生、内包制下各局中人的博弈行为及内包制的消失等问题的研究情况,对于我国内包制的理论研究和实践都是有益的。     

Assessing political support in China: Citizens’ evaluations of governmental effectiveness and legitimacy

Whether the Chinese Communist regime can maintain socio‐political stability and survive the potentially turbulent transition to the post‐Deng Xiaoping era remains a serious question challenging many China watchers. Assuming that political support is vital to the stability of any regime, the authors seek to answer this question by examining two major components of political support, instrumental support (citizens’ evaluations of governmental effectiveness) and affective support (citizens’ evaluations of governmental legitimacy). Using data collected from a public opinion survey conducted in Beijing, China in late 1995, this study explores the levels of both affective support and instrumental support, and the nature of the relationship between these two types of political support in China today. The results of this study show that: (1) the current Chinese regime enjoys a moderately high level of affective support and a slightly lower level of instrumental support; (2) the two types of political support are moderately correlated; and (3) the relationship between these two types of support persists across key demographic groups. Based on these results, the authors conclude that the current Chinese leadership has a good chance to maintain political stability in the post‐Deng era, while it will face severe challenges in substantially upgrading its current level of legitimacy by solely relying upon improvements in governmental effectiveness in the short term.     

Internet Exposure and Political Beliefs among Educated Youth in China

Using a survey of 1,280 Chinese college students, this article explores the impact of Internet use in China on political beliefs. By controlling for overall Internet exposure and differentiating between visits to government websites and to non-government on-line sources, I find that the more students browse ‘vertically’, the more supportive they are of the regime and the less they endorse democratic norms, and that the more they browse ‘horizontally’, the more likely they are to agree with democratic norms but are not significantly less willing to support the regime. I also find that Party membership raises support for the regime, and that family income exerts a U-shaped impact on regime support, but neither has an independent and significant effect on agreement with democratic values. Analyses of other individual characteristics further refine the finding that regime support and democratic orientation do not necessarily contradict each other. Students who do not strongly support the current regime are not necessarily democracy seekers.