Suchergebnisse

This book explores the relationship between Confucianism and citizenship and the rise of Confucian citizens in contemporary China. Combining theoretical and empirical approaches to the topic, the book constructs new frameworks to examine the nuances and complexities of Confucianism and citizenship, exploring the process of citizen-making through Confucian education. By re-evaluating the concept of citizenship as a Western construct and therefore challenging the popular characterization of Confucianism and citizenship as incompatible, this book posits that a new type of citizen, the Confucian citizen, is on the rise in 21st-century China. The book's clear, accessible style makes it essential reading for students and scholars interested in citizenship, Confucianism and Chinese studies, and those with an interest in religion and philosophy more generally.

Focusing on nationalism and cosmopolitanism as elements influencing the discourse and practice of citizenship and citizenship education, this study discusses how they are construed and implemented by contemporary Confucian educational practitioners. By analysing the theoretical discourses of Confucian classical education and the pedagogical practices of a specific Confucian school, this study reveals the interweaving of nationalism and cosmopolitanism and the pedagogical practices involved in cultivating students as Confucian cosmopolitan citizens with a Chinese national identity. These findings contribute from an Indigenous perspective to the understanding of the shaping of civic subjectivity embedded in the Chinese Confucian context, in line with the ongoing intellectual shift towards post-orientalist citizenship. The study concludes that Confucian education has the potential to inspire citizenship and citizenship education studies by contributing ideas regarding the complexities of the relationship between national identity and global awareness emerging from Chinese politico-cultural circumstances to the internationally recognized rhetoric on citizenship.

This article uses the theory of Chinese individualisation to understand the Confucian education revival by focusing on the rise of parents as critical individuals and a case study of one Confucian private school. Drawing on interview data from parental activists who enrol their children in the study of Confucian classics, this article presents the disembedding actions taken to break attachments to state schools and the paradoxical return to institutional safety. It finds that these parents exhibit ambivalence towards the state education system, and that family relationships affect individual parents' decisions about Confucian education. Furthermore, this study discusses the implications of the individualisation dynamics for Confucian revival in reference to the reflexive conditions of modernity. (China Perspect / GIGA)

This article discusses the ongoing debates about classics reading (dujing 读经) in the revitalisation and diversification of Confucian classical education in mainland China. It begins by reviewing two disputes about dujing in modern Chinese history and then turns to the contemporary debate, focusing on how one professional and experienced practitioner expounded on the disparities in practicing classical education. The author summarises three controversial issues : (1) the relationship between the educative principles and methods, (2) historical legitimacy, and (3) the linguistic nature of Chinese language. Based on these, this paper reflects on the current dujing movement by concluding that the diversification of classical education has complicated the authenticity of "Chineseness" and rendered it a debatable public issue. (China Perspect/GIGA)

Purpose
This special issue aims to address the complexities and dynamics in contemporary China's citizen-making processes, with a focus on the educational dimension.


Design/methodology/approach
The four articles in this special issue present citizen-making processes in both educational and cultural arenas. Based on the rich, first-hand data collected inside and outside China, the researchers revealed the dynamics of the educative processes, as the interplay of different mechanisms produces new understandings of citizenship practice.


Findings
This special issue sheds light on the rise of new types of citizens, who are emerging at the grassroots level in China, beyond the state's strict direct regulations, along with the rise of market forces and multicultural communities in Chinese society today. Contributors to this special issue have captured an ongoing change, in that the diversified citizen-making mechanisms are, to a certain extent, mitigating the party-state's definitive monopoly on forging citizens and are creating new spaces for individuals to develop fresh forms of political subjectivity and citizenship practice. In this sense, we argue for the unpacking of the citizen-making processes in present-day China not only from the lens of state-dominated, top-down initiatives but also from that of participatory, bottom-up initiatives performed by grassroots groups with differentiated socio-economic statuses and cultural traditions.


Originality/value
This special issue can be regarded as a contribution to the growing field of Chinese citizenship studies, which constitutes an integral part of the unfinished project of citizenship after orientalism.