Abstract
How does one assess whether and in what ways the oeuvre of Wang Hui (1959)1 has contributed to the emergence of an ‘Asian School of Chinese International Relations’? There are several possibilities for answering this question, but much depends on what one makes of the label ‘Asian School of Chinese International Relations’ and what could possibly be reckoned as a ‘contribution’ in that context. Acharya and Buzan have been amongst the first to reflect on what might count as a contribution to International Relations Theory (IRT), generally, but also particularly in view of ‘non-Western international relations theory’. Emphasizing their wide and pluralist understanding of ‘theory’, they come up with a set of three conditions, one of which should at least be met if something is to count as a contribution: 1. Substantial acknowledgement by others in the International Relations (IR) academic community as being theory; 2. Self-identification by its creators as being IRT; and 3. Systematic attempts to abstract or generalize about the subject matter of IR. In addition, they are also careful to consider ‘pre-theory’, by which they understand ‘elements of thinking that do not necessarily add up to theory in their own right, but which provide possible starting points for doing so’ (Acharya and Buzan 2007: 290–-92).
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Bibliography
Acharya, A. and Buzan, B. (2007). ‘Why is There No Non-Western International Relations Theory? An Introduction’, International Relations of the Asia—Pacific, Vol. 7, No. 3, pp. 287–312.
Alagappa, M. (2011). ‘International Relations Studies in Asia: Distinctive Trajectories’, International Relations of the Asia—Pacific, Vol. 11, No. 2, pp. 193–230.
Bleiker, R. and Chou, M. (2010). ‘Nietzsche’s Style: On Language, Knowledge and Power in International Relations’, in C. Moore and C. Farrands (eds), International Relations Theory and Philosophy: Interpretive Dialogues. New York: Routledge.
Callahan, W. A. (2008). ‘Chinese Visions of World Order: Post-hegemonic or a New Hegemony?’ International Studies Review, Vol. 10, pp. 749–761.
Cohen, P. A. (2003). China Unbound: Evolving Perspectives on the Chinese Past. London and New York: Routledge.
Cunningham-Cross, L. (2011). ‘Re-imagining the World through Chinese Eyes: The Search for a “Chinese School” of International Relations Theory’, paper presented at the 2011 BISA Annual Conference in Manchester, available at http://www.bisa.ac.uk, accessed March 1, 2013.
Cunningham-Cross, L. and Callahan, W. A. (2011). ‘Ancient Chinese Power, Modern Chinese Thought’, The Chinese Journal of International Politics, Vol. 4, pp. 349–374.
Frei, Ch. (2001). Hans J. Morgenthau: An Intellectual Biography. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press.
Hille, K. and Dickie, M. (2012). ‘Chinese Nationalists Eye Okinawa’, Financial Times, July 23, 2012, available at http://www.ft.com, accessed March 10, 2013.
Huang, Ph. C-C. (2008). ‘Review Article: In Search of a Chinese Modernity: Wang Hui’s The Rise of Modern Chinese Thought’, Modern China, Vol. 34, No. 3, pp. 396–404.
Jensen, L. (1997). Manufacturing Confucianism: Chinese Traditions and Universal Civilization. Durham: Duke University Press.
Murthy, V. (2006). ‘Modernity Against Modernity: Wang Hui’s Critical History of Chinese Thought’, Modern Intellectual History, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 137–165.
Nida-Rümelin, J. (2012). ‘Einführung’, in H. Wang (ed.), Rethinking Equality: The Decline of Representation. Essen: Klartext Verlag.
Noesselt, N. (2012). ‘Is there a “Chinese” School of IR’, GIGA Working Papers, No. 188, pp. 1–27.
Paltiel, J. T. (2011). ‘Constructing Global Order with Chinese Characteristics: Yan Xuetong and the Pre-Qin Response to International Anarchy’, The Chinese Journal of International Politics, Vol. 4, pp. 375–403.
Qin, Y. (2007). ‘Why Is There No Chinese International Relations Theory?’ International Relations of the Asia-Pacific, Vol. 7, pp. 313–340.
Qin, Y. (2009). ‘Development of International Relations Theory in China’, International Studies, Vol. 46, No. 1–2, pp. 185–201.
Qin, Y. (2011). ‘Development of International Relations Theory in China: Progress Through Debates’, in International Relations of the Asia—Pacific, Vol. 11, pp. 231–257.
Shani, G. (2008). ‘Toward a Post-Western IR: The Umma, Khalsa Panth, and Critical International Relations Theory’, International Studies Review, Vol. 10, pp. 722–734.
Song X. (2001). ‘Building International Relations Theory with Chinese Characteristics’, Journal of Contemporary China, Vol. 10, No. 26, pp. 61–74.
Wang, H. (2002). ‘Political Failure and the Necessity for Global Democracy’, Inter-Asia Cultural Studies, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 139–144.
Wang, H. (2003). China’s New Order: Society, Politics, and Economy in Transition, edited by Th. Huters. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Wang, H. (2007). ‘The Politics of Imagining Asia: A Genealogical Analysis’, Inter-Asia Cultural Studies, Vol. 8, No. 1, pp. 1–33.
Wang, H. (2008a). Xiandai Zhongguo sixiang de xingqi (The Rise of Modern Chinese Thought), Vol. 4, 2nd edn (Beijing: Sanlian).
Wang, H. (2008b). ‘The Liberation of the Object and the Interrogation of Modernity: Rethinking The Rise of Modern Chinese Thought’, Modern China, Vol. 34, No. 1, pp. 114–140.
Wang, H. (2011). ‘Okinawa and Two Dramatic Changes to the Regional Order’, in Th. Huters (ed.), The Politics of Imagining Asia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Wang, H. (2012a). ‘The Rumour Machine’, London Review of Books, Vol. 34, No. 9, pp. 13–14.
Wang, H. (2012b). ‘A Dialogue on the Rise of Modern Chinese Thought: Liberating the Object and an Inquiry into the Modern’, Positions: East Asia Cultures Critique, Vol. 20, No. 1, pp. 287–306.
Weber, M. (1997). ‘“Objectivity” in Social Science and Social Policy’, in E. A. Shils and H. A. Finch (eds), The Methodology of the Social Sciences (German original: ‘Die “Objektivit” sozialwissenschaftlicher und sozialpolitischer Erkenntnis’ (1904)).
Weber, R. (2011). ‘On Wang Hui’s Re-Imagination of Asia and Europe’, Europa Regional, Vol. 17, No. 4, pp. 221–228.
Yan, X. (2011). Ancient Chinese Thought, Modern Chinese Power, edited by D. A. Bell and Sun Zh. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Zhang, F. (2009). ‘Rethinking the “Tribute System”: Broadening the Conceptual Horizon of Historical East Asian Politics’, Chinese Journal of International Politics, Vol. 2, pp. 545–574.
Zhang, F. (2012). ‘The Tsinghua Approach and the Inception of Chinese Theories of International Relations’, The Chinese Journal of International Politics, Vol. 5, pp. 73–102.
Zhang, Y-J. (2001). ‘System, Empire and State in Chinese International Relations’, in Michael Cox, Tim Dunne, and Ken Booth (eds) Empires, Systems and States: Great Transformation in International Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Zhang, Y-J. and Buzan, B. (2012). ‘The Tributary System as International Society in Theory and Practice’, The Chinese Journal of International Politics, Vol. 5, pp. 3–36.
Zhang, Y-L. (2010). ‘The Future of the Past: On Wang Hui’s Rise of Modern Chinese Thought’, New Left Review, Vol. 62, March-April, pp. 47–83.
Zhao, T. (2005). Tianxia tixi: shijie zhidu zhexue daolun (The Tianxia System: A Philosophy for the World Institution). Nanjing: Jiangsu Education Press.
Zhao, T. (2006). ‘Rethinking Empire from a Chinese Concept “All-under-Heaven” (tian-xia)’, Social Identities: Journal for the Study of Race, Nation and Culture, Vol. 12, No. 1, pp. 29–41.
Zhao, T. (2009). ‘A Political World Philosophy in Terms of All-under-Heaven (Tian-xia)’, Diogenes, Vol. 56, No. 1, pp. 5–18.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2014 Ralph Weber
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Weber, R. (2014). On Wang Hui’s Contribution to an ‘Asian School of Chinese International Relations’. In: Horesh, N., Kavalski, E. (eds) Asian Thought on China’s Changing International Relations. Palgrave Studies in International Relations Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137299338_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137299338_5
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-45268-2
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-29933-8
eBook Packages: Palgrave Intern. Relations & Development CollectionPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)