Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
publishedVersion
Publication Date
1-2007
Abstract
This essay examines the interplay between nationalism and foreign policy in China—but with a twist. It seeks to loosen up analytical categories to expand from cultural nationalism to see how civilization constructs identity in national and transnational ways. It examines the limits of Chinese trans/nationalism according to the main Chinese expression of inside/outside—‘civilization/barbarism’—as it constructs Chinese nationalism and Greater China. The purpose is to both critically examine Chinese nationalism and to trace what our focus on the nation-state obscures: namely, transnational politics. Rather than recounting one master narrative of Chinese nationalism, the essay argues that civilization and barbarian define Greater China according to four narratives—nativism, conquest, conversion and diaspora. Hence, the essay does not merely deconstruct the notion of Greater China and Chinese nationalism, but shows how these four grids of meaning can help us to understand identity politics and foreign policy debates in China. Nationalism thus turns from being the Answer about the true intent of China, to being a series of questions which define different terrains of political inquiry.
Discipline
Asian Studies | Political Science
Research Areas
Political Science
Areas of Excellence
Digital transformation
Publication
Journal of Contemporary China
Volume
14
Issue
43
First Page
269
Last Page
289
ISSN
1067-0564
Identifier
10.1080/10670560500065629
Publisher
Taylor & Francis (Routledge): SSH Titles
Citation
CALLAHAN, William A..(2007). Nationalism, civilization, and transnational relations: The discourse of Greater China. Journal of Contemporary China, 14(43), 269-289.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/4350
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.1080/10670560500065629