Human Security and the Chinese State: Historical Transformations and the Modern Quest for Sovereignty (Routledge Contemporary China Series)

Offering a fresh and unique approach to surveying the historical transformations of the Chinese state, __Human Security and the Chinese State__ focuses on human security in contrast with the twenty-first century obsession with national security. Building upon Hobbes' Leviathan, Robert Bedeski demonstrates how the sovereignty of the state reflects primary human concerns of survival, indeed, that fundamental purpose of the state is the preservation of the life of its citizens. Combining political science theory with historical literary, cinematic and sociological materials and ideas, Bedeski has produced a truly original approach to the last two thousand years of Chinese political history, explaining the longevity of the imperial Confucian state and locating the dilemma of modern China in its incomplete sovereignty. Book Cover......Page 1 Title......Page 6 Copyright......Page 7 Contents......Page 10 Preface......Page 11 Abbreviations......Page 14 1 Human survival, human institutions, and human security......Page 16 2 Dimensions of human security: Foundations in individual human life......Page 19 3 The modern sovereign nation-state (MSNS)......Page 39 4 Prologue to a theory of human security......Page 59 5 A notational theory of human security......Page 77 6 Actualizing imperial sovereignty in ancient China......Page 92 7 Claiming dynastic sovereignty under the imperial meta-constitution......Page 118 8 Sovereignty and state-building in late Qing and Republican China......Page 145 9 Contemporary China’s incomplete sovereignty: Fusion, succession, and adaptation......Page 170 Notes......Page 188 Bibliography......Page 193 Index......Page 202 "This book outlines a working theory of human security, and applies it to an analysis of the dynamics of the Chinese state. Professor Bedeski demonstrates how sovereignty of the state reflects primary human concerns of survival, where the state's fundamental purpose is to preserve citizens' lives. Using his theory of human security, he describes eight "meta-constitutions" from the Legalist Qin empire to the potential federal state represented by Taiwan's continued autonomy. The incompleteness of Chinese sovereignty remains a key variable in understanding the policy and strategy of modernization, both within China and among neighboring East Asian states."--Jacket Offering a fresh and unique approach to surveying the historical transformations of the Chinese state, this book focuses on human security in contrast with the twenty-first century obsession with national security.