International Relations and the
                        Rise of Asia: A New ‘Moral Imagination’ for World Politics?

Ling, L. H. M.; Chen, Boyu

doi:10.4135/9781526402066.n10

Cited by 6 publications

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“…Here, the important question is whether the world indeed exists holographically. One can explore such knowledge by turning to different cultural or geo-linguistic traditions for relevant insights, as many have done in the “Global IR” and relational turn genres (Acharya, 2011; Ling and Chen, 2018; Nordin et al, 2019; Qin, 2018). Indeed, the idea of holographicity (if not necessarily the concept per se) can be found in many spiritual traditions and cosmological thoughts (Di Biase, 2009: 215; Pan, 2018: 346).…”

Section: Quantum Holography As a Post-newtonian Relational Ontologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Enfolding wholes in parts: quantum holography and International Relations

Pan

2020

European Journal of International Relations

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This article stands at the intersection between the relational turn in International Relations (IR) and the quantum turn in the social sciences (and more recently in IR as well). The relational turn draws much-needed attention to the centrality of relations in global politics, yet its imprecise conceptualization of whole-part relations casts shadow over its relational ontological foundation. The quantum turn, meanwhile, challenges the observed–observer dichotomy as well as the classical views about causality, determinacy, and measurement. Yet, despite their common stance against the Newtonian ontology, the relational and quantum turns have largely neglected each other at least in the IR context. This article aims to bridge this gap by introducing a quantum holographic approach to relationality. Drawing on theoretical physicist David Bohm’s work on quantum theory and his key concepts about wholeness and the implicate order, the article argues that the world is being holographically (trans)formed: its parts are not only parts of the whole, but also enfold the whole, like in a hologram. This quantum holographic ontology contributes to both a clearer differentiation between internal/implicate relations and external/explicate relations and a renewed emphasis on wholeness and whole-part duality. In doing so, it not only provides new conceptual tools to rethink IR as holographic relations which involve the dynamic processes and mechanisms of enfoldment and unfoldment, but also has important policy and ethical implications for the conduct of “foreign” relations and for transforming the way we think about identity, survival, relationship, and responsibility.

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Section: Quantum Holography As a Post-newtonian Relational Ontologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Enfolding wholes in parts: quantum holography and International Relations

Pan

2020

European Journal of International Relations

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“…The article concludes by suggesting that not only can narrative (re)construct social reality, but it can also transform world politics (see Gustafsson et al 2019). By offering an alternative imaginary about 'being in the world' (Ling and Chen 2018), narrative can help us innovate ways of 'doing in the world'.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Popular culture and politics: re-narrating the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands dispute

Ling

Nakamura

2019

Cambridge Review of International Affairs

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Narrative, we argue, can (re)construct social reality. Alternative imaginaries of 'being in the world' can lead to alternative ways of 'doing in the world'. We discuss the current dispute between China and Japan over the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands as an example. Westphalian logic would have the two countries come to blows, if not go to war, over the Islands. The Westphalian account of the dispute centres on the key principle of sovereignty. But what if we utilized a different imaginary to re-narrate the conflict? We turn to popular culture in both Japan and China as a guide, and juxtapose two anime, Appleseed and Time of Eve, with one Chinese TV drama, Nirvana in Fire. Each of these upends conventional analyses of the Islands dispute and offers alternative conceptions of sovereignty. We conclude by considering the implications of such alternative imaginaries for the study, if not practice, of international relations. 1 In September 2012, the Japanese government purchased eight uninhabited islets from private ownership, calling them the Senkaku Islands. However, China also claims sovereignty over the same islands, calling them the Diaoyu Tai (Global Times/Xinhua 2012). See Drifte (2003, 2014) and Hunt (2017). 2 Rumours claim that rich oil reserves lie underneath these islets. Others cite the islets' 'strategic location' in the middle of international shipping lanes and fishing grounds (The Economist 2013). 3 Beijing and Tokyo have each increased their military budgets due to tensions in the East

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Whither Chinese IR? The Sinocentric subject and the paradox of Tianxia-ism

Chu

2020

Int. Theory

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This essay critically assesses the Tianxia Theories, a line of indigenous International Relations (IR) theorizing in China organized around the concept of Tianxia (‘all-under-heaven’). My goal is to tackle a seemingly prevalent issue among non-Western IR theories, that is, the indigenous scholars' subservience to state cues and often uncritical attitude toward their own ethnocentrism. To that end, I strategically target a recent contribution to this scholarship that explicitly seeks to articulate a non-ethnocentric theory: Xu Jilin's New Tianxia-ism (xin tianxia zhuyi). I first examine the main thesis of New Tianxia-ism to reveal its internal tensions. Then I examine what enables the formulation of New Tianxia-ism from a discursive perspective. I argue that a particular subject position, to which I refer as the ‘Sinocentric Subject’, plays an instrumental role in enabling contemporary Chinese intellectuals to think along the logics of New Tianxia-ism. The result, however, undermines the agenda to articulate an alternative theory that rectifies the ethnocentrism in IR. In conclusion, I suggest that Chinese indigenous scholarship ought to engage more critically the ideological inclination and the politics of knowledge within its own epistemic community.

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International Relations and the Rise of Asia: A New ‘Moral Imagination’ for World Politics?

Cited by 6 publications

References 0 publications

Enfolding wholes in parts: quantum holography and International Relations

Enfolding wholes in parts: quantum holography and International Relations

Popular culture and politics: re-narrating the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands dispute

Whither Chinese IR? The Sinocentric subject and the paradox of Tianxia-ism

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