China scholars have long worked in a closed circuit and China studies have rarely been able to have a disciplinary impact beyond their field. After 1978’s Open and reform policy, Chinese scholars have intensely striven to catch up with Western concepts and theories and have, along with foreign scholars, tried to apply them to Chinese contexts. Since the 2010s and China’s greater rise and confidence, academia has also engaged in indigenization (bentuhua), and some researchers have tried to build and use local concepts presumably better suited to China’s conditions. These endeavors have however mostly failed to China being a “limit case”, some analyses however manage to enlighten cases beyond China’s borders. As David Ownby said, Chinese intellectuals “speak to the world” and it is high time Chinese studies, and more specifically political science and sociology in our case, speak to the academic community at large.

Program

9 am: Welcoming participants and introducing the workshop (Emilie Frenkiel, LIPHA, UPEC)

9:15-12:30: Morning session

• “The imaginaries of China’s emerging middle classes” (Jean-Louis ROCCA, Sciences Po Paris) Discussant: Nabila ABBAS, UPEC
• “Coalition-Based Gender Lobbying: Revisiting Women’s Substantive Representation in China’s Authoritarian Governance” (Xinhui JIANG, Freie Universität Berlin & Yunyun ZHOU, Oslo University) Discussants: Yves de CURRAIZE, LIPHA, UPEC (in French with translation) and Raphaëlle PARIZET, LIPHA, UPEC (in French with translation)
• “Chinese grassroots governance and Covid 19” (Ming ZHUANG, Chengdu Academy of Social Sciences, China & Su Yun WOO, Institute of Political Science, University of Zurich) Discussant: Yves Sintomer, Paris Lumière
• “Is Xieshang Minzhu consultative democracy or deliberative democracy” (Emilie FRENKIEL, UPEC, Rongxin LI, Paris Lumière, Yves SINTOMER, Paris 8) Discussants: David SMADJA, LIPHA, UGE (in French with translation)

Lunch break

2- 4:30 pm: Afternoon session

• “Connective representation” (Anna SHPAKOVSKAYA, Frankfurt University) Discussant: Stéphanie WOJCIK, UPEC, CEDITEC (in French with translation)
• “Working under the pandemics” (Ye GUO & Renyou HOU & Manon LAURENT & Jun LI & Anne-Valérie RUINET & Gilles GUIHEUX, Université de Paris) Discussants: Francesco SERGI, LIPHA, UPEC et Sylvie THORON, LIPHA, UPEC
• “Leading with hearts and minds: Broadcasters, emotion initiators, and emotion brokers in emotion contagion in China’s online activism” (Jun LIU, University of Copenhagen & Nian LIU, Capital University of Economics and Business) Discussants: Baptiste KOTRAS, INRAE, LISIS, UGE et Ziyan WANG, LIPHA

Concluding remarks Yi ZENG, Sichuan University, China & Emilie Frenkiel UPEC, LIPHA

Organisation and registration

Online workshop organized by Emilie Frenkiel (UPEC)

Registration: https://centerinparis.uchicago.edu/events/understandingchina20210408