The Democracy of the Dead: Dewey, Confucius, and the Hope for Democracy in China

Description

Will democracy figure prominently in China's future? If so, what kind of democracy? In this insightful and thought-provoking book, David Hall and Roger Ames explore such questions and, in the course of answering them, look to the ideas of John Dewey and Confucius. Title Page About the Cover Copyright Contents Dedication Acknowledgments Introduction: A View From the West 1. Romanticism, Pragmatism, and Cultural Difference 2. Modernization, Globalization, and Ethnocentricity 3. The Argument and Three Fallacies Part 1: Identifying China Chapter 1. The ‘Myth’ of Han Identity 1. Myth and Cultural Narrative 2. The People of the Han Chapter 2. Challenges to the Myth of the Han 1. Waking Up to Diversity 2. China versus the World 3. Internal Tensions 4. The Future of Han China Part 2: China and Modernization Chapter 3. ‘Modernity’ As a Western Invention 1. Politics, Economics, and Culture 2. Meanings of Modernity 3. Modernity in Crisis Chapter 4. Accommodating Modernity 1. Modes of Accommodation 2. Westernization and Easternization Part 3: The Cultures of Democracy Chapter 5. The Irrelevance of Rights-Based Liberalism 1. Rights-Based Liberalism 2. The Rights-Bearing Individual 3. The Status and Content of Rights 4. Liberty, Autonomy, Equality Chapter 6. John Dewey’s Democracy 1. The Contingency of Democracy 2. A Communicating Community 3. The Democratic Individual 4. Tradition, Intelligence, and Education 5. Dewey and Rights-Based Liberalism Chapter 7. Confucianism and Pragmatism 1. Dewey in China 2. Shared Marginality 3. Some Commonalities Part 4: The Democracy of the Dead Chapter 8. Confucian Democracy: A Contradiction in Terms? 1. Dynamics of Democratization 2. Classical Sources of Democracy in China 3. Dewey and Confucius on Community Chapter 9. The Chinese Individual 1. Classical Roots of the Communal Person 2. The Individual and Social Harmony 3. The Focus/Field Model of Persons Chapter 10. The Role of Ritual in a Communicating Community 1. The Aesthetic Organization of Community 2. Neither Individualism nor Collectivism 3. Law, Constitution, and Community Chapter 11. Communal Sources of Human Rights 1. Rights or Rites? 2. China on Human Rights in America 3. Human Rights in a Communitarian Context 4. A New Discourse Notes Works Cited Index