15 Nov 2024 | Prof. Victoria Hui | Seminar: What do we see when we ask “What is China?”
Hui’s talk centers on her foundational question: “What is China?” She argues that many social scientists take China’s historical narrative for granted, often depicting it as a unified, Confucian state that was powerful yet peaceful. In contrast, Hui’s research reveals a complex, multifaceted past. “China” was as divided as it was unified, as violent as it was harmonious, as innovative as it was stagnant. Dynastic histories feature brutal wars of unification, mass killings of rebellions, coercive homogenization of minorities, and even genocidal actions. Yet, the constant warfare spurred innovations like the compass, gunpowder, and movable printing—advances that reached Europe and facilitated the rise of the West. This competitive environment also laid down building blocks for citizenship rights, international treaties, and trade. The talk unearths these alternative trajectories buried under the singular Confucian narrative of China’s history.
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2024 GRADNAS Seminar Series
The GRADNAS Seminar Series in 2024 will showcase the emerging scholarship on the historical International Relations of Asia. There has been a “global” and a “historical” turn in International Relations scholarship in recent years. Scholars are increasingly looking at Asian history to enrich International Relations theory. What are the theoretical insights that emerge from studying Asian history? Does Asian history provide us with new concepts and new understandings of order? Does Asian history challenge the received metanarratives of International Relations theory? How were historical Asian polities connected with each other and with the world beyond Asia? Can the International Relations theoretical findings from Asian history shed light on other parts of the world? What, if anything, do these findings tell us about the emerging world order? Join us as we celebrate and showcase the excellent research by GRADNAS members and friends on the Historical International Relations of Asia.
The full description of the event will be provided in due course.