China: The Pessoptimist Nation 1st Edition

by William A. Callahan (Author)

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ISBN-13: 978-0199549955

ISBN-10: 0199549958

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The rise of China presents a long-term challenge to the world not only economically, but politically and culturally. Callahan meets this challenge in China: The Pessoptimist Nation by using new Chinese sources and innovative analysis to see how Chinese people understand their new place in the world. The heart of Chinese foreign policy is not a security dilemma, but an identity dilemma. Chinese identity emerges through the interplay of positive and negative feelings: China thus is the pessoptimist nation. This positive/negative dynamic intertwines China's domestic and international politics because national security is closely linked to nationalist insecurities.

To chart the trajectory of its rise, the book shifts from examining China's national interests to exploring its national aesthetic. Rather than answering the standard social science question "what is China?" with statistics of economic and military power, this book asks "when, where, and who is China?" to explore the soft power dynamics of China's identity politics.

China: The Pessoptimist Nation examines Beijing's propaganda system and its patriotic education policy to see how Chinese identity is formed through a celebration of ancient civilization and a commemoration of humiliation suffered in modern history. It shows how China's relationship with itself and the world takes shape in the pessoptimist dynamics of patriotic education policy and the national humiliation curriculum, national days and national humiliation days, national maps and national humiliation maps, foreign brothers and domestic strangers, and Chinese patriots and foreign devils. Together the chapters demonstrate how the identity politics of Chinese nationalism produce the security politics of Chinese foreign policy. They show how the pessoptimist link between China's dream of civilization and its nightmare of humiliation is not fading away. It provides the template of China's foreign relations that inflames popular feelings for future demonstrations, and primes the indignant youth for explosive protests.

Callahan concludes that Chinese identity grows out of a dynamic of reciprocal influence that integrates official policy and popular culture. This interactive view of China's pessoptimist identity means that we need to rethink the role of the state and public opinion in Beijing's foreign policy-making.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"This provocative books uses not only a new analytical framework for studying Chinese political culture...As a significant contribution to the understanding of political culture and how it is related to contemporary international relatiions, this book will surely generate more discussion on the subject matter."--Journal of Asian Studies

"A courageous book...both timely and likely to stand the test of time."--China Quarterly

"An in-depth analysis of how perceptions and narratives of Chinese identity have shaped intellectual and popular discourses on China's security and insecurity...this study makes a significant contribution to the literature focusing on the ideational and societal dimensions of Chinese foreign policy."--Times Higher Education Supplement

About the Author

William A. Callahan is Professor of International Politics and China Studies at the University of Manchester, and Co-Director of the British Inter-University China Center at Oxford University. His recent publications include Cultural Governance and Resistance in Pacific Asia (2006) and Contingent States: Greater China and Transnational Relations (2004).

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Product Details

Hardcover: 248 pages
Publisher: Oxford University Press; 1 edition (January 18, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0199549958
ISBN-13: 978-0199549955
Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 0.7 x 6.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,203,966 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #3341 in Books > Textbooks > Humanities > History > Asia
- #4617 in Books > History > Asia > China
- #4755 in Books > Textbooks > Social Sciences > Political Science > International Relations

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Making better sense of China

By BLAIR John on July 15, 2012

Format: Paperback

Unlike most of the many books being published these days about China, this one tries to take Chinese culture seriously. That is, economic and political concerns do not dominate the discussion but emerge as the visible consequences of cultural choices operated by the Chinese leadership. The basic and inescapable assertion is that these leaders could not stay in power unless they found support broadly based in the Chinese population. Mere police power, despite its high development in China, could not succeed without the broad credibility of the leadership's national and nationalist narratives.
Callahan's work is to unpack the major factors that have been at work over the last several decades, notably the theme of National Humiliation that has been cultivated in history textbooks and media presentations.
The author reminds us that this theme, though it came visibly to the fore after the Tiananmen events of 1989, was not at all new. Reformers late in the Qing Dynasty played up this view, as did the Republic of China during its years of dominance.
The author's main point is that Westerners, if they seek to be realistic, must recognize that the present leadership continues to show remarkable astuteness in engaging popular support, despite diverse kinds of unhappiness and opposition. Only by taking the Chinese seriously on their own terms can we as outsiders hope to cope with China.
The title attracts attention, but is not quite right. If it is taken as implying that the Chinese tend to view the world both pessimistically and optimistically, it disregards Callaghan's basis theme: that we need to break up our Western mindsets that tend to categorize China as one thing or another.Read more ›

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