Sinicizing International Relations Self, Civilization, and Intellectual Politics in Subaltern East Asia

Sinicizing International Relations brings civilizational politics back to the studies of international relations and questions the notion of a rising Chinese nation by deconstructing the possibility of looking at China in its entirety. The works of scholars writing on China are influenced by their own historical and philosophical backgrounds and the daily political and economic conditions in which they live and work. Their writings on China rising intrinsically reflect their encounters and choice. Studying the rise of China involves interactions between the identity of the observers who are doing the studying and the identities of China. Each set of interacting identities comprises choices on at least three levels: civilizational, national, and (sub)ethnic. As a result, intellectual choices of identity become intrinsic to international relations scholarship, and international relations acquire complicated cultural meanings in East Asian communities, which contemporary international relations theories fail to comprehend.

Chih-yu Shih is a University Chair Professor in the Department of Politics of National Taiwan University.