Politics of the 'Other' in India and China: Western Concepts in Non-Western Contexts (Routledge Contemporary Asia Series)

The social sciences have been heavily influenced by modernization theory, focusing on issues of economic growth, political development and social change, in order to develop a predictive model of linear progress for developing countries following a Western prototype. Under this hegemonic paradigm of development the world tends to get divided into simplistic binary oppositions between the 'West' and the 'rest', 'us' and 'them' and 'self' and 'other'. / Proposing to shift the discussion on what constitutes the 'Other' as opposed to the 'Self' from philosophy and cultural studies to the social sciences, this book explores how the structural asymmetries existing between Western discourses and the realities of the non-Western world manifest themselves in the ideas, institutions and socio-political practices of India and China, and in how far they shape the social scientist's understanding of their discipline in general. It provides a counter-narrative by revealing the relativity of geographies, and by showing that the conventional presentation of core elements of the Asian socio-political set-up as 'aberrations' from the Western models fails to acknowledge their inherent strategic character of adapting Western concepts to meet local requirements. / Drawing on multiple disciplines, concepts and contexts in India and China, the book makes a valuable contribution to the theory and practice of politics, as well as to International and Asian Studies Foreword: constructing and deconstructing the 'Other' in the social science discourse / T.K. Oommen -- Introduction: politics of the 'Other' in India and China- Western concepts in non-Western countries / Lion König and Bidisha Chaudhuri -- pt. I. Concepts in context: the case of India. The Hindu nationalist strategy of stigmatisation and emulation of 'threatening Others': an Indian style fascism? / Christophe Jaffrelot Stretching secularism: conceptual equivocality in the Indian context / Lion König Muslim citizens versus citizen Muslims: a study of discursive strategies in contemporary India / Julten Abdelhalim 'Back to the roots': the indigenisation of Western party politics in post-colonial India / Clemens Spiess Indian federalism: a hybrid solution to the problem of diversity and political order / Harihar Bhattacharyya Politics of 'good governance': 'Otherising' governance in India / Bidisha Chaudhuri Self and Other in the making of foreign policy: the terms of discourse in Indo-European relations / Subrata K. Mitra -- pt. II. Concepts in context: the case in China. Class politics and the entrenchment of the party-state in modern China / Brian Tsui The Chinese assimilation of 'social class': intellectual discourses on jieji between 1899 and 1949 / Jeesoon Hong Chinese dreams of socialism: visions of a better future / Gerda Wielander Democracy with Chinese characteristics: the primacy of the nation / Robert Weatherley 'Othering' in the construction of Chinese citizenship / Małgorzata Jakimów and Elena Barabantseva Renquan- Chinese human rights: an 'import' from the West or a Chinese 'export'? / Yuka Kobayashi -- Soft power in China: adaptation and development of a fashionable concept / Mareike Ohlberg Hegemony in Chinese?: Ba in Chinese international relations / Astrid Nordin. Cover 1 Title 8 Copyright 9 Contents 10 List of figures 13 Notes on contributors 14 Foreword: constructing and deconstructing the ‘Other’ in the social science discourse 20 Preface and acknowledgements 25 List of abbreviations 27 Introduction: politics of the ‘Other’ in India and China – Western concepts in non-Western contexts 30 PART I Concepts in context: the case of India 44 1 The Hindu nationalist strategy of stigmatisation and emulation of ‘threatening Others’: an Indian style fascism? 46 2 Stretching secularism: conceptual equivocality in the Indian context 60 3 Muslim citizens versus citizen Muslims: a study of discursive strategies in contemporary India 77 4 ‘Back to the roots’: the indigenisation of Western party politics in post-colonial India 90 5 Indian federalism: a hybrid solution to the problem of diversity and political order 101 6 Politics of ‘good governance’: ‘Otherising’ governance in India 114 7 Self and Other in the making of foreign policy: the terms of discourse in Indo-European relations 128 PART II Concepts in context: the case of China 142 8 Class politics and the entrenchment of the party-state in modern China 144 9 The Chinese assimilation of ‘social class’: intellectual discourses on jieji between 1899 and 1949 156 10 Chinese dreams of socialism: visions of a better future 170 11 Democracy with Chinese characteristics: the primacy of the nation 184 12 ‘Othering’ in the construction of Chinese citizenship 196 13 Renquan – Chinese human rights: an ‘import’ from the West or a Chinese ‘export’? 208 14 Soft power in China: adaptation and development of a fashionable concept 222 15 Hegemony in Chinese? Ba in Chinese international relations 235 Glossary 245 Bibliography 254 Index 280