What we think about China depends in large measure on how we think about China. As a nation of 1.4 billion people in the throes of world-historic change, it's more important than ever to examine our own mental models when it comes to our understanding of China. This week on the Sinica Podcast, Kaiser kicks off an informal series on "thinking about thinking about China" with a conversation with Anthea Roberts and Nicolas Lamp, co-authors of the book Six Faces of Globalization: Who Wins, Who Loses, and Why it Matters. While the book focuses on globalization, in which China has been a central actor, it's really a book about ways to approach complex all complex issues — and will equip you with immensely useful ways to conceptualize any number of problems related to China. Kaiser calls the book "an upgrade to [his] mental operating system." Please enjoy this fascinating discussion with two brilliant scholars.
5:36 – What are the building blocks of a "narrative?"
8:08 – The six main narratives on globalization laid out
26:23 – The challenge of articulating problematic or objectionable narratives in good faith
53:54 – How China fits into the six "Western" narratives on globalization
56:55 – Chinese perspectives on globalization
1:11:58 – Different metaphors for integrative complexity
1:21:01 – Disciplines and training that prepare or predispose people toward complexity
1:24:33 – Name-checking the influences
A transcript of this conversation is available on SupChina.com.
Recommendations:
Anthea: The Master and His Emissary, by Ian McGilchrist
Nicolas: The Once and Future Worker, by Oren Cass; and the China Trade Monitor website, run by Simon Lester and Huan Zhu.
Kaiser: "China's Reform Generation Adapts to Life in the Middle Class," by Peter Hessler
Other Links: This episode mentions a great many books and authors. Here's a partial list!
Isaiah Berlin, The Hedgehog and the Fox
Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Slow and Fast
Howard Gardner, Multiple Intelligences: New Horizons in Theory and Practice; and his memoir, A Synthesizing Mind
Philip Tetlock and Dan Gardner, Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction
Jonathan Haidt, The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion
Paul Blustein, Schism: China, America, and the Fracturing of the Global Trading System
Julia Galef, The Scout Mindset: Why Some People See Things Clearly and Others Don't
David Epstein, Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World
C.P. Snow, The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution
Edward O. Wilson, Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge
George Lakoff, Moral Politics: How Liberals and Conservatives Think
Gareth Morgan, Images of Organization
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Political Scientist Iza Ding on Authoritarianism, Legitimacy, and "Resilience"
The View from China: Leading IR scholar Da Wei of Tsinghua's CISS
Did Netflix's Adaptation Ruin The Three-Body Problem?
Live from AAS in Seattle: What has become clear to you recently?
Back to the Future: David M. Lampton and Thomas Fingar on What Went Wrong and How to Fix It
Kerry Brown: on What does the West Wants from China, and the Exercise of Chinese Power
Historian Rana Mitter on ideology in China's "New Era" — live from Salzburg, Austria
Schwarzman Scholars Capstone Showcase: The 2023 Winners
The Ukrainian Factor in China's Strategy: a roundtable
Peter Hessler, live at Duke University's Nasher Museum
This Week in China's History: The Qing Abdication — February 12, 1912
Sinica comes roaring back in the Year of the Dragon: A chat with Jeremy Goldkorn
Live from New York: China and the Global South, with Maria Repnikova and Eric Olander
In Memoriam: Jeffrey A. Bader, from February 2022
Live from Chicago: Decoding China — China’s economic miracle interrupted?
Robert Daly of the Kissinger Institute on the morality of U.S. China policy
China Tobacco: How China's tobacco monopoly also has ensured that China keeps smoking
The Philadelphia Orchestra commemorates the 50th anniversary of its groundbreaking China tour
Ian Johnson on "Sparks," his new book on China's underground historians
U.S. Congressman Rick Larsen (D-WA) on his new U.S.-China policy white paper
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free