Suchergebnisse

Introduction -- From the Enlightenment to the Soviet new man -- "Be Mao's good soldiers" : creating the new man in China -- "Let them all become Che" : creating the new man in Cuba -- The global impact of the communist new man -- Conclusion

He idea of eliminating undesirable elements from human nature to create a "new man" has been part of moral and political thinking worldwide for millennia. During the Enlightenment, European philosophers sought to construct an ideological framework for reshaping human nature. But it was only among the communist regimes of the twentieth century that such ideas were actually put into practice on a nationwide scale. In this book Yinghong Cheng examines three culturally diverse sociopolitical experiments-the Soviet Union under Lenin and Stalin, China under Mao, and Cuba under Castro-in an attempt to better understand the origins and development of the "new man." The book's fundamental concerns are how these communist revolutions strove to create a new, morally and psychologically superior, human being and how this task paralleled efforts to create a superior society. Cheng begins by exploring the origins of the idea of human perfectibility during the Enlightenment. His discussion moves to other European intellectual movements, and then to the creation of the Soviet Man, the first communist new man in world history. Subsequent chapters examine China's experiment with human nature, starting with the nationalistic debate about a new national character at the turn of the twentieth century; and Cuban perceptions of the new man and his role in propelling the revolution from a nationalist, to a socialist, and finally a communist movement. The last chapter considers the global influence of the Soviet, Chinese, and Cuban experiments. -- Book jacket

AbstractThe article analyses how population genetics has impacted on nationalist discourses across the Taiwan Straits and affected the relationship between Taiwan and China since the 1990s. In Taiwan this cutting-edge science has helped to construct a native-based and Taiwan-centred national identity through promoting indigenous peoples' rights, rejecting a blood-based, cross-Straits nationalism, and founding a pan-Pacific indigenous peoples' community through genetic links and cultural affinity. In China, after subverting the nationalist myth of Peking Man (a Homo erectus group believed to be the common ancestor of the Chinese) by analysing genetic data, the same group of Chinese genetic scientists have constructed another nationalist myth of a genetically homogenous nationhood. Such a discourse not only valorizes Chinese nationalism through claiming a DNA-based Chineseness across ethnic distinctions but also asserts genetic links between China and Taiwan, therefore providing a 'scientific' basis for China's nationalism in the new century.

AbstractThis article offers an analytical introduction to some important Cuba-related discussions in China in the last two-and-a-half decades. No Latin American nation has been treated like Castros' (Fidel and Raul) Cuba in China's ideological development. Cuba's revolutionary experience in the past and the regime's defiance of major global trends – from retreat of socialism to advancement of neo-liberalism – correspond to a wide range of opinions in China and are exploited by them to address their own concerns. To borrow Orientalist analysis, just like the "Other" helps define "Self," as a "socialist Other," Cuba in Chinese perception often reflects China's own confusions and contradictions.

This article offers an analytical introduction to some important Cuba-related discussions in China in the last two-and-a-half decades. No Latin American nation has been treated like Castros' (Fidel and Raul) Cuba in China's ideological development. Cuba's revolutionary experience in the past and the regime's defiance of major global trends - from retreat of socialism to advancement of neo-liberalism - correspond to a wide range of opinions in China and are exploited by them to address their own concerns. To borrow Orientalist analysis, just like the "Other" helps define "Self," as a "socialist Other," Cuba in Chinese perception often reflects China's own confusions and contradictions. (China Q/GIGA)

AbstractAs Sino-African engagement keeps developing, racial relations have emerged to concern people on both sides. The recent Chinese cyber discussions on Africans have shown a blatant racialism against Africans. Comparing this with the campus racism in the 1980s and contextualizing it in China's modern history and, more importantly, China's recent rise as a global power, the article argues that racial discourse has become an important component in Chinese nationalism without public awareness of it.

As Sino-African engagement keeps developing, racial relations have emerged to concern people on both sides. The recent Chinese cyber discussions on Africans have shown a blatant racialism against Africans. Comparing this with the campus racism in the 1980s and contextualizing it in China's modern history and, more importantly, China's recent rise as a global power, the article argues that racial discourse has become an important component in Chinese nationalism without public awareness of it. (China Q/GIGA)

Abstract
Represented by the Barisan party and mainly participated in by ethnic Chinese, the leftist movement in Singapore was the thrust behind the island's independence (1965) and the major political opposition to the ruling PAP (People's Action Party). But within several years after independence, the movement disappeared as the PAP's one-party regime grew in strength. Based on the leftist publications of that period, this article argues that Maoist China's influence, the Cultural Revolution in particular, significantly contributed to the decline of the movement. The radicalization and dissolution of Singapore's leftist movement was one example of the destructive impact of Maoism and the Cultural Revolution on overseas Chinese politics in the 1960s.