Warring states and harmonized nations: Tianxia theory as a world political argument
Julkaistu sarjassa
JYU dissertationsTekijät
Päivämäärä
2020Tekijänoikeudet
© The Author & University of Jyväskylä
The purpose of this study is to examine Chinese foreign policy by analyzing Chinese visions and arguments on the nature of world politics. The study focuses on Chinese academic discussions, which attempt to develop a ’Chinese theory of international politics’, and especially on the so called ’tianxia theory’ (天下论, tianxia lun), which is one of the most influential initiatives within these discussions. Tianxia theorists study imperial China’s traditional system of foreign relations and claim that the current international order, which is based on competing nation states, should be replaced with some kind of world government that would oversee the good of the whole planet.
The dissertation relies on the constructivist framework proposed by Alexander Wendt, in which the essence of world politics is not determined by material factors or unchanging national interests, but instead, is to a large degree socially constructed by the main actors of the order. Ideas – riding on the wings of material power – are the central force, which transforms international orders. Against this framework the dissertation understands theories of world politics as such transforming ideas as they influence and limit the way we understand political reality. Following Kari Palonen’s understanding of politics, the study approaches tianxia theory as an argument in the ongoing debates, which deal with the nature of world politics; as a rhetorical device, which is criticizing and delegitimizing the existing ‘liberal international order’ and its ‘Western values’.
In the wider context, tianxia theory is approached in the dissertation as a part of China’s overall rhetorical offensive for developing Chinese soft power and for reinterpreting the grand narrative of world politics according to, allegedly, Chinese concepts. Besides academic discussions the study examines how ideas from the tianxia theory find their place in the official Chinese foreign policy argumentation in the public speeches of President Xi Jinping.
In its form, the study is a mixture between a traditional monograph and an article based dissertation. During the research process, various independent research articles were written and published, or presented as conference papers. These papers have been reworked and transformed into a monograph form, which has three analytical chapters. The chapters approach the topic from different angles, and which apply slightly different methodological tools, but are unified in their interest in tianxia theory and the concept of tianxia.
...
![showless](/themes/JYX2//images/showless.png)
![showmore](/themes/JYX2//images/showmore.png)
Julkaisija
Jyväskylän yliopistoISBN
978-951-39-8218-8ISSN Hae Julkaisufoorumista
2489-9003Asiasanat
kansainvälinen politiikka ulkopolitiikka kansainväliset suhteet kansainvälinen järjestelmä länsimaat itämaat politiikan teoria maailmanjärjestys maailmankuva maailmanhistoria kansallisvaltio hegemonia historia Kiina China Chinese foreign policy world politics theory of international relations tianxia theory Community of shared future for mankind
Metadata
Näytä kaikki kuvailutiedotKokoelmat
- JYU Dissertations [806]
- Väitöskirjat [3520]
Lisenssi
Samankaltainen aineisto
Näytetään aineistoja, joilla on samankaltainen nimeke tai asiasanat.
-
A Non-world : Chinese Perceptions of the Western International Order
Puranen, Matti (Palgrave Macmillan, 2020)As the West struggles, China, economically and politically stable, has increased its criticism toward the Western-led international order. According to Chinese arguments, the ongoing decade has demonstrated that the Western ... -
The question of Western Hungary/Burgenland, 1918-1923 : a territorial question in the context of national and international policy
Vares, Mari (University of Jyväskylä, 2008)Euroopan valtiot ja niiden rajat muuttuivat perusteellisesti noin 90 vuotta sitten ensimmäisen maailmansodan jälkeen. Keski-Euroopassa Habsburg-suvun hallitseman Itävalta-Unkarin kaksoismonarkian hajottua Itävalta ja Unkari ... -
The United Nations child policy : international games of morality and power
Van der Vet, Irina (University of Jyväskylä, 2013) -
New age of Harding : political discourses in the United States regarding the rebuilding of the international relations in the debate on the treaties of the Washington Conference in 1922
Nyman, Joel (2021)Torjuttuaan jäsenyyden Kansainliitossa ensimmäisen maailmansodan jälkeen, Yhdysvaltojen oli muodostettava ulkopolitiikkansa uudelle pohjalle. Presidentti Wilsonia seurannut uusi Republikaanihallinto ei toisaalta voinut ... -
Finnish Diplomats as Interpreters of Finland’s Foreign Policy 1955–1971: Question of Neutrality and Divided Germany
Nissinen, Jukka (Jyväskylän yliopisto, 2019)During the Cold War, between the years 1949–1973, Finland did not recognize either one of the states of the divided Germany, the socialist German Democratic Republic (East Germany) or the democratic Federal Republic of ...
Ellei toisin mainittu, julkisesti saatavilla olevia JYX-metatietoja (poislukien tiivistelmät) saa vapaasti uudelleenkäyttää CC0-lisenssillä.