Pan-Asianism as an Ideal of Asian Identity and Solidarity, 1850-Present

Sven Saaler and Christopher W. A. Szpilman's "Pan-Asianism as an Ideal of Asian Identity and Solidarity, 1850-Present" deals with Pan-Asian ideas in a broad context, from the earliest encounters with Western imperialism and nationalism to contemporary concepts of "Asian Values." They argue that Pan-Asianism only became part of Japan's mainstream political vocabulary in the 1910s, and it was problematic from the start. Unresolved questions included: Did Japan want to lead Asia in resisting European imperialism, or did it want an alliance with Great Britain? How should Asia fit into a European-dominated world? How did Korea and China, both of which Japan had long and complicated relationships with, fit into the vision of a Japanese-led Asia? Saaler and Szpilman also make clear that as time went on, Japanese proponents of Pan Asianism increasingly imagined the future as one of Japanese domination over the rest of Asia rather than equal partnerships, and they also found themselves winning increasing support from the Japanese government. The authors provide a thorough survey of the varieties of Japanese Pan-Asianism's leading thinkers and texts, (as well as many Chinese and Korean responses), briefly touching on all the issues discussed below

Aesthetics · Epistemology · Political science · Sociology · Solidarity · Chinese history and philosophy · Gender Studies · Japanese History and Culture · Law · Philosophy · Vietnamese History and Culture Studies