National identity deconstruction

Revisiting the debate on Chinese nationalism via Hong Kong nationalism

Bibliographic Data

ID7337829
AuthorsK Carrico (0000-0002-1196-4388, Chinese Studies, School of Languages, Literatures, Cultures, and Linguistics Monash University Melbourne Victoria Australia, corresponding author)
Year2022
Volume29
Issue2
Pages768-783
Publication date2022-10-25
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueNations and Nationalism (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1345-5078 • E-ISSN: 1469-8129
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/nana.12898
OpenAlexW4307381509
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited18

What is Chinese nationalism? Is nationalism the most effective framework for understanding how people in China are making sense of the world today? These are among the questions raised by Allen Carlson in his 2009 article ‘A flawed perspective: the limitations inherent within the study of Chinese nationalism’, which developed a provocative critique of decades of scholarship. Acknowledging the insights of Carlton's questions while disagreeing with his proposed conceptual shift towards national identity construction, I propose a further shift towards national identity deconstruction. In doing so, I combine the political insights of Hong Kong nationalists with the theoretical insights of deconstruction. This shift redirects the study of Chinese nationalism away from an abstract conceptualisation of nationalism to a more precise definition of the phenomena under study, as well as moving the debate on potential impacts away from international relations to consideration of the complex dynamics of China's ethnic politics. New definitions of both nationalism and minzu (of minzu zhuyi) are developed, reconceptualising the phenomena heretofore known as ‘Chinese nationalism’ as external symptoms of underlying tensions between conflicting identity narratives. In conclusion, the practical implications of this reconceptualisation are considered, exploring potential future paths for the People's Republic of China

Aesthetics · China · Deconstruction (building · Identity (music · Narrative · National identity · Nationalism · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Scholarship · Sociology · China's Ethnic Minorities and Relations · Chinese history and philosophy · Gender Studies · Hong Kong and Taiwan Politics · Law · Philosophy

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