Read on Twitter
Finally gotten around to reading this. Fascinating & convincing piece! I learned a lot. A short thread on someone with 0 background in poli phil. 1/ https://twitter.com/dikaioslin/status/1262420410123071488
The paper aims to explain why many Chinese liberals cherish Trump. It has one negative thesis of what couldn't be the case, and two positive theses: beaconism as an explanation and historical contexts that gave rise to beaconism. 2/
1) the negative thesis.
Two popular hypotheses of Chinese liberal Trumpism are: 1) that they think Trump respects China in a non-patronizing way, unlike his predecessors, and 2) that they think Trump's trade war will force CCP to change. 3/
Two popular hypotheses of Chinese liberal Trumpism are: 1) that they think Trump respects China in a non-patronizing way, unlike his predecessors, and 2) that they think Trump's trade war will force CCP to change. 3/
These are not good explanations because 1) many such liberals are not pro-CCP, 2) Trumpist sentiments are expressed before trade wars, 3) Trump was congratulated on his domestic policies rather than international ones, 4) these explanations ignore broader intellectual trends. 4/
2) first positive thesis.
Lin argues that, motivated by sentiments against the CCP, liberals look to the US as a "beacon of hope", resulting in wilfully ignoring US's shortcomings and painting a rosy picture. 5/
Lin argues that, motivated by sentiments against the CCP, liberals look to the US as a "beacon of hope", resulting in wilfully ignoring US's shortcomings and painting a rosy picture. 5/
As support, this is not the first time Chinese liberals have done this, citing a previous nostalgic "minguo" fad. Chinese liberals are also not the only ones doing it, citing Hollander's book "Political Pilgrims". 6/
3) second positive thesis.
Lin traces beaconism to the late 19th century when the Qing dynasty found itself overpowered by European invaders. They decided to "learn from the west". 7/
Lin traces beaconism to the late 19th century when the Qing dynasty found itself overpowered by European invaders. They decided to "learn from the west". 7/
But "the west" happened to be going through the height of colonialism, scientific racism, social Darwinism, which Chinese intellectuals promptly adopted and associated with progress. 8/
Another relevant factor is the CCP's prolonged self-picture as leftist and the recent memory that cultural "revolution" is a terrible idea. Many Chinese liberals thus conclude that alt-right ideology must be the answer. 9/
4) my 2-cents.
First cent: with respect to 2), an interesting implication seems to be that, had Clinton won, there would've been a Clinton-fad. Perhaps 3) plus mysogyny will make it less feverish than the Trump-fad. Perhaps we can see if there will be a Biden-fad. 10/
First cent: with respect to 2), an interesting implication seems to be that, had Clinton won, there would've been a Clinton-fad. Perhaps 3) plus mysogyny will make it less feverish than the Trump-fad. Perhaps we can see if there will be a Biden-fad. 10/
Second cent: I don't know how evidentially plausible 3) is. It sounds very plausible to me but I don't know what kind of evidence could support something like this. It does make me think, though, how causal attributions work in history. 11/
It makes sense to think that "the west just beat us; they must be doing *something* right". But what is that "something"? There are so many differences it's impossible to tell. 12/
It reminds me of Appiah's analysis in "Honor Code" of how China gave up its foot-binding practice because of the belief that it is what's holding Chinese civilization back. 13/
If you think about it, that's a weird view: how can the shape of women's feet affect civilization? But then, how would they know if it can't? 14/14
