Abstract:

The paper, China’s Selective Identities: State, Ideology and Culture, analyses the role of selective identities in shaping China’s policy towards its neighbours, developing states and the developed world. The paper discusses China’s ideological construct with equality, fairness and materialistic narratives. From this point of view, China has placed its identity as a as a leading example of a developing country among its sisters in the developing world. Using the argument of equality and materialism, the Chinese use Marxism/Socialism as a core point of reference for building their identity within the developing world. The paper also discusses China as a cultural construct. It argues that Chinese leaders build their state’s position in the developed world by reinventing the tianxia concept, civilization narratives and placing China as an innocent global player. All of the above-mentioned assumptions are based on discourse analyses of public speeches delivered by specific Chinese leaders in Japan, Africa, Europe and the United States.

About the Speaker:

Dominik Mierzejewski is a Professor at the Department of East Asia Studies, University of Lodz, Poland. He studied at the Shanghai International Studies University (1999-2000, 2003-2004). He was an intern at the Heritage Foundation and awarded the Jan Karski scholarship by the American Center of Polish Culture in 2003. He was a visiting professor in the Chinese Academy of Social Science, with a grant from the Polish Foundation for Science (2010-2011). He is a member of the Association for Asian Studies, European International Studies Association, and a board member of the European Association for Chinese Studies. He is the vice editor-in-chief of “Azja-Pacyfik” yearbook and “Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia” (Austria/South Korea). His research focuses on China’s political development, rhetoric of Chinese foreign policy and leadership transition in the Communist Party of China. He has published a monograph, and articles on various platforms in Singapore, United Kingdom and the United States.