Theorizing China’s rise in and beyond international relations

China's rise, like the demise of the Soviet Union, is one of the defining events in the contemporary world. Yet, while the unexpected Soviet collapse and the end of the Cold War sparked the ‘Third Debate’ in International Relations (IR) theory, it is puzzling that the rise of China has yet to g...

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Main Authors: Pan, Chengxin, Kavalski, Emilian
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Oxford University Press 2018
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/55569/
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author Pan, Chengxin
Kavalski, Emilian
author_facet Pan, Chengxin
Kavalski, Emilian
author_sort Pan, Chengxin
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description China's rise, like the demise of the Soviet Union, is one of the defining events in the contemporary world. Yet, while the unexpected Soviet collapse and the end of the Cold War sparked the ‘Third Debate’ in International Relations (IR) theory, it is puzzling that the rise of China has yet to generate a comparable process of shell-shock and soul-searching among IR theorists. Just as the end of the Cold War is more than simply the end of a bipolar power struggle per se, so too China's rise is much more than the familiar ascendancy of another great power. Rather, it is also a complex, evolving and possibly border-traversing and paradigm-shattering phenomenon in global life that, on the one hand, requires fresh and innovative theorizing in and beyond IR and, on the other hand, potentially offers new insights for us to rethink world politics more broadly. This article introduces this Special Issue that seeks to tentatively respond to this theoretical, epistemological and ontological challenge. It draws attention to the blind spot in IR theorizing on China, and calls for deeper engagement between IR theory and China's rise that goes beyond mere ‘theory-testing’ within the existing perimeters of mainstream IR.
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spelling nottingham-555692020-08-29T04:30:10Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/55569/ Theorizing China’s rise in and beyond international relations Pan, Chengxin Kavalski, Emilian China's rise, like the demise of the Soviet Union, is one of the defining events in the contemporary world. Yet, while the unexpected Soviet collapse and the end of the Cold War sparked the ‘Third Debate’ in International Relations (IR) theory, it is puzzling that the rise of China has yet to generate a comparable process of shell-shock and soul-searching among IR theorists. Just as the end of the Cold War is more than simply the end of a bipolar power struggle per se, so too China's rise is much more than the familiar ascendancy of another great power. Rather, it is also a complex, evolving and possibly border-traversing and paradigm-shattering phenomenon in global life that, on the one hand, requires fresh and innovative theorizing in and beyond IR and, on the other hand, potentially offers new insights for us to rethink world politics more broadly. This article introduces this Special Issue that seeks to tentatively respond to this theoretical, epistemological and ontological challenge. It draws attention to the blind spot in IR theorizing on China, and calls for deeper engagement between IR theory and China's rise that goes beyond mere ‘theory-testing’ within the existing perimeters of mainstream IR. Oxford University Press 2018-09-01 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/55569/1/Pan%20and%20Kavalski%20lcy018%20Proof.pdf Pan, Chengxin and Kavalski, Emilian (2018) Theorizing China’s rise in and beyond international relations. International Relations of the Asia-Pacific, 18 (3). pp. 289-311. ISSN 1470-4838 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/irap/lcy018 doi:10.1093/irap/lcy018 doi:10.1093/irap/lcy018
spellingShingle Pan, Chengxin
Kavalski, Emilian
Theorizing China’s rise in and beyond international relations
title Theorizing China’s rise in and beyond international relations
title_full Theorizing China’s rise in and beyond international relations
title_fullStr Theorizing China’s rise in and beyond international relations
title_full_unstemmed Theorizing China’s rise in and beyond international relations
title_short Theorizing China’s rise in and beyond international relations
title_sort theorizing china’s rise in and beyond international relations
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/55569/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/55569/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/55569/