This page is intended to offer short interviews with researchers working on political and philosophical thought, its complex historical formation across different cultures, languages and traditions, and its increasing global entanglement.
The Historical Process and Institutions of Modernisation and Development in the Context of a Post-Revolutionary ‘Socialist’ China – Interview with Professor Thomas Heberer (Read More Here)
On Friday 30th June 2023, the Centre for Political Thought hosted Professor Thomas Heberer for a remotely conducted interview. Thomas Heberer is a Senior Professor of Chinese Politics and Society at the Institute of East Asian Studies and Faculty of Social Science at the University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany – he has been academically involved with China for over 50 years. His recent projects include Political Representative Claims (2016-2020); Local Governance in China (2009-2016). As well, he has recently published Disciplining of a Society: Social Disciplining and Civilizing Processes in Contemporary China (2020), Weapons of the Rich: Strategic Behaviour and Collective Action of Private Entrepreneurs in Contemporary China (2020), both of which our discussion refers to.
We spoke to Thomas about his two-pronged methodology that he defines as his being an “ethnological spy in political science,” whereby ethnology and political science come together. Given his methodological attention to the essential interaction between political-institutional structures and the people that sustain these, we discussed with him the Chinese state’s evolution into what he calls a “developmental state,” oriented towards modernisation, and deploying mechanisms to socially discipline and civilise its people to this end. We parsed Thomas’ sense of the term ‘development’ in which he discerns not only an economic but also a ‘moral’ aspect. This is realised by the ideological education of citizens in a distinct subsumption of Confucian thought into modernising/development discourses. On the material side and especially concerning his examination of the role of various strategic groups (entrepreneurs, farmers, ethnic minorities, etc.) in the process of China’s modernisation, we explored with Thomas the Chinese state’s change in posture towards and instrumentalization of, private entrepreneurs towards its modernisation and developmental goals. Finally, we asked Thomas’ insight into the apparent contradictory reconciliation of the Chinese state’s ‘socialist identity,’ and its formidable market economy, and culture of consumerism.
Positioning Chinese and Western Ontologies in a Meaningful Dialogue – Interview with Professor Sun Xiangchen
On 18th May 2023, the Centre for Political Thought at the University of Exeter hosted Professor Sun Xiangchen to discuss his scholarship that thematically spreads across early modern philosophy, enlightenment philosophy, political philosophy, Jewish-Christian philosophy, phenomenology, and comparative philosophy. Sun Xiangchen is also the author of a number of published books including Facing the Other: On Levinas’ Philosophical Thought (2008), Political Philosophy and Sino-Theology (co-author 2007), Metaphysics of Seventeen Century (co-author, 2005). His most recent publication is titled On Family: Individual and Qin-Qin [‘Affection for Kin’] (2019).
Professor Sun spoke to us of his experience straddling, and trying to bridge, the conceptual and terminological distance between the system of Western philosophy and Chinese thought when teaching an audience previously unfamiliar with the cultural, historical, and linguistic context of the latter. In this course, he explained the conditions when it is possible to properly position Chinese thought to a foreign audience, and what he means by creating a ‘new ontological framework.’
Continuing in the thread of cross-cultural philosophical exchanges, we spoke to him about the significance of the French Jewish philosopher Levinas for his own intellectual formation, considering his efforts to promote a dialogue between Chinese and Western perspectives. Professor Sun reflected on his recent book, particularly with respect to a possible reconciliation between the two seemingly oppositional values of the ‘individual’ and ‘Qin-Qin [Affection for Kin]’, how this opens possibilities about thinking of a future with the ‘family’, and the reception of his ideas on the family from colleagues situated in various academic contexts.
On Global Modernities and Transculturation in Modernist Literature – Interview with Professor Regenia Gagnier
On 23rd May 2023, the Centre for Political Thought at the University of Exeter hosted Professor Regenia Gagnier for an interview. Professor Gagnier conversed with us on her intellectual life and journey, as well as her impressive breadth of specialisms, that range across the geopolitics of language and literature migration; political economy and political languages; digital humanities; literary and social theory; sex, gender and sexuality; interdisciplinary studies, especially science and technology; and women in the professions. Her book on modernization and the global circulation of political languages, Literatures of Liberalization: Global Circulation and the Long Nineteenth Century was published in 2018 in the Palgrave series New Comparisons in World Literature.
With special reference to her published works, we discussed the entanglement of literature and political discourses across various cultural settings, ranging from Victorian England to Colonial India. Regenia Gagnier offered us insight into her understanding of ‘transculturation’ as methodology, and how literature, bearing ideas with immediate relevance to society and politics, travels distances. We asked her to weigh in on the way in which the ‘global’ and ‘local’; the ‘traditional’ and ‘modern’ interact, and engender a cultural reinvention of political languages, in light of her discourse on Yan Fu’s translation of Mill’s On Liberty’ in her book. Finally, we discussed future imaginaries, and relatedly, the meaning of the term ‘progressiveness’ – including possibilities of the interpretation of this concept beyond its ‘Western’ sense that predominantly hinges on economic liberalism and industrialization.
Interview with Dr Nan Zhang – English Literature, Global Modernism, and Transcultural Conversation (Read More Here)
On 3rd April 2023, the Centre for Political Thought at the University of Exeter hosted Dr. Nan Zhang for a remotely conducted interview. Dr. Zhang is an Associate Professor of English at Fudan University, and an Honorary Professor of English at the University of Hong Kong. The interview followed, and interwove, various threads in Dr. Zhang’s work on global modernism, including, but not limited to, themes such as ethics and virtue in twentieth-century British literature; an anti-colonial way of being in the thought of Rabindranath Tagore; the possibility of a conversation between Western epistemology and perspectives of the world we can locate in Eastern or Chinese philosophies.
Interview with Professor Demin Duan – Montesquieu and his reception in China
In this interview with Professor Demin Duan we discuss the intellectual history of Montesquieu, focusing on his reception in China with specific reference to the The Spirit of The Law, and the author’s discussion of despotism. Contextualising this analysis within his own intellectual history, Professor Duan provides a thorough breakdown of how Montesquieu is read in China, focusing in particular on how changing political environments have shifted this reception. Whilst focusing on Montesquieu, Professor Duan teaches more broadly on political theory and the history of political thought, publishing on Tocqueville and Machiavelli, in addition to comparative studies of European and Chinese political philosophy. He is a tensure Professor at the Department of Political Science, School of Government, Peking University, earning his PhD from the Institute of Philosophy (Center for Ethics, Social and Political Philosophy) at the Catholic University of Leuven.
Interview with Professor Hongtu Li – John Stuart Mill and global intellectual history (Read More Here)
In this interview with Professor Hongtu Li, we explore his intellectual trajectory, his work on John Stuart Mill, global intellectual history and the theory of human rights. Professor Li sheds light on how Mill’s thought was influenced by his life experience with Harriet and his intellectual friendship with Tocqueville, and how Mill’s view on China reflected the common discourse of his age. He talks about his interpretation of Mill’s view on well-being or happiness and its relevance to the debates on human rights, and his concerns about the latter issue from a global perspective. Hongtu Li is a Professor of intellectual history at Fudan University and the Deputy Director of the Centre for Global Intellectual Research at East China Normal University. His publications include in particular: De la Liberté John. Stuart Mill et la naissance du libéralisme (Paris: Éditions Kimé, 2021), Vision of Ideas (Commercial Press,2020) in Chinese; as co-editor, The Study of Global Intellectual History. Volume 1 (Social Science Academic Press, 2019) in Chinese, Chine France – Europe Asie, Itinéraires de concepts (Rued’Ulm, 2018).
Interview with Professor Tongdong Bai – Confucianism and knowledge across borders
In this interview with Professor Tongdong Bai we we talk about his view on how Confucian and Western philosophy compare; and how can Confucianism and traditional Chinese philosophy contribute to our understanding of modernity. Professor Bai talks about his intellectual biography; on the importance of ideas of humanity and compassion in Confucian philosophy; on the relationship between Confucianism and modern society. Tongdong Bai is Professor of Philosophy at Fudan University and Global Professor of Law at NYU’s Law School. His books include Against Political Equality: The Confucian Case (Princeton University Press 2019), China: The Political Philosophy of the Middle Kingdom (Zed Books 2012), A New Mission of an Old State: The Comparative and Contemporary Relevance of Classical Confucian Political Philosophy (Peking University Press 2009), and Tension of Reality: Einstein, Bohr and Pauli in the EPR Debates (Peking University Press 2009).
Interview with Dr Emilie Frenkiel – Citizens’ empowerment and knowledge across borders
In this interview with Emilie Frenkiel, we explore questions of participation and deliberation in Chinese politics, and the comparison between different cultures, intellectual traditions and ideas. The interview is also concerned with the experiences of academics dealing with knowledge across borders. Dr Emilie Frenkiel is associate professor at the Université Paris Est Créteil, a researcher and vice-director of the LIPHA research institute. She is the author of two books: Conditional Democracy: The Contemporary Debate on Political Reform in Chinese Universities (ECPR press 2015), Parler politique en Chine (Presses Universitaires de France 2014), and the co-editor of La Chine en mouvements (Presses Universitaires de France 2013).