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Very proud to share that my article "Spanning Thousands of Miles and Years: Political #Nostalgia and #China's Revival of the Silk Road" has been published by @ISQ_Jrnl. Here's a short 
on theorizing political nostalgia with links to global (re)ordering https://academic.oup.com/isq/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/isq/sqaa080/5981616?redirectedFrom=fulltext
on theorizing political nostalgia with links to global (re)ordering https://academic.oup.com/isq/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/isq/sqaa080/5981616?redirectedFrom=fulltext
#Nostalgia was first diagnosed in 1688 in a military context as a severe homesickness considered an ailment that was often treated as a cause of death of soldiers. It is also open to a range of emotions, from happy childhood memories to melancholia, grief, loss, and sadness. 2/
In the article I argue that political #nostalgia is not a reconstruction of the past for the past’s sake, but instead is for shaping the future. For the New Silk Road ( #BRI), its future is leaning on past narratives of prosperity and cultural exchanges of the Ancient Silk Road 3/
I examine #nostalgia in context of Belt and Road slogans, images, and videos that play up links to the Ancient Silk Road. Zheng He has also become part of branding the BRI based on the nostalgia of maritime navigations that did not lead to conquests (of Africa for instance). 4/
#China’s past as a maritime superpower during the Ming Dynasty is then coupled with its recent development miracle story to shape a narrative of leadership, aspiration, and condition of possibility for other Global South states. I examine this dynamic thru "temporal selving" 5/
Being part of the New Silk Road, Beijing tells the Global South, is joining something bigger and far more prestigious than the #BRI. It is the whole legacy of the Ancient Silk Road, its glorious past, and the promise of return to that glory that’s sold it through #nostalgia 6/
Political #nostalgia involves a form of lamenting the present and a call for reforming/ changing it. #China has been campaigning for global re-ordering for a long time with varying degrees of reform and sense of urgency. #BRI is just one of may platforms for calling on reforms 7/
Political #nostalgia is not only instrumentalized in the rise of China, or more aptly its return as a major power. It’s also used in narratives of decline. Making America Great Again ( #MAGA) slogans, colonial nostalgia, Erdogan’s #Ottoman grandeur, etc are all nostalgic fields 8/
As I mention briefly in the article, #nostalgia is also the fabric that reconstructs narratives of future possibility of returning to + reactivating the Bandung Spirit, the NAM, PanAfricanism, and so on. The possibility is predicated on a temporized home and affective bonding. 9/
I hope you like this article, I really enjoyed writing it and I plan on expanding on it for my next book. If you have any feedback to share please send it my way. An active @ISA membership will give you access to download the article as a PDF. Otherwise please ask for a copy 10/
I already have many people to thank for helping me think through the many iterations of this article and I can’t possibly name them all but for great feedback, but big shout out to @ty_solomon1 @JackAmoureux @andrewagross @amozjyhor Kimberly Hutchings, 11/
And of course many thanks to the entire @ISQ_Jrnl team who have been amazing through out this process (and very compassionate with deadlines during a very difficult summer). Reviewer 3 was so amazing I dedicated a separate footnote (15) to their brilliance. Merci à tous! Fin
