Easting the west: theorizing the postliberal conjuncture from China
Join us for a fireside chat that introduces the new book by Chenchen Zhang, Easting the West: Theorizing the Postliberal Conjuncture from China.
The rise of the global right has led observers to speak of the end of the liberal international order. What does it mean to theorise the postliberal conjuncture from China, and what does it mean to trace the idea of “the West” from without?
Easting the West: Theorizing the Postliberal Conjuncture from China explores how ideas of “the West” and articulations of China/West difference are produced and mobilised in Chinese political discourse. Drawing on the dazzling, chaotic, and jargon-laden world of social media, the author will discuss the book which examines reactionary formations in digital China as a constitutive site of ideological production in the postliberal moment. It shows how political sensibilities can converge across conventional geopolitical and ideological fault lines, and how critiques of liberal contradictions and imperialism can be repurposed for authoritarian and ethno-nationalist projects.
Meet our speaker
Chenchen Zhang is an Associate Professor in International Relations at Durham University. Her current research interests span postcolonial nationalism, cultural politics, and transnational solidarity. She is a co-host of the Shicha podcast.
Discussants
Shakuntala Banaji is Professor of Media, Culture and Social Change in the Department of Media and Communications at LSE. Professor Banaji's research addresses the intersection between socio-political contexts, media, identities, social justice and social change.
Karin Narita is a Research Associate on the Right Worlds project at Queen Mary University of London. Prior to this, she was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Sheffield and has previously taught at QMUL and King's College London. Her research lies at the intersection of international relations and right-wing ideologies with a focus on Japan and East Asia. Her monograph Culture Must Be Defended: Japanese Conservatism and International Relations is forthcoming.
Christian Sorace is an Associate Professor of Global China at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of Corpus Christi College. His work explores political concepts and practices in China and Mongolia, spanning the study of ideology, discourse, urban planning, air pollution, and aesthetics.
Chair
Jasmine K Gani is an Assistant Professor of International Relations in the Department of International Relations at LSE.
More about this event
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