Making sense of European integration: Chinese perspectives
Shanghai International Studies University
14-15 September 2019
Call for Papers
Organisers: Dr Richard McMahon (University College London) and Professor LIU Hongsong (Shanghai International Studies University)
This workshop will examine how Chinese social groups, including officials, elites, intellectuals, journalists and the public, understand European integration. Contributions could, for example, examine how Chinese students, tourists, migrants or business people view the European Union (EU) as:
a military or economic partner or rival
a model of governance or reform
a normative power or soft power
a strategic actor or foreign policy actor
a historical oppressor
an exotic foreign culture
Key aims of the workshop are to raise the international profile of China’s vibrant and sophisticated scholarship on European integration and to intensify its links with Western scholarship. We will therefore publish papers from the event as the first China-themed special issue of a leading international EU Studies journal. This will strengthen the transnational networks of EU Studies, promote its engagement with non-Western perspectives, give Chinese scholars an opportunity to engage with Western work on perceptions of European integration, and publicise this relatively new area of research in China.
Perceptions and representations are a crucial element shaping the relationship between the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and EU. Relations between these economic superpowers, with the world’s second and third biggest GDPs, have become increasingly central to world affairs as America’s commitment to global leadership has weakened. The PRC and EU are also increasingly interdependent. They are connected by huge trade flows, support for free trade, the fight against global warming, and Chinese support during Europe’s sovereign debt crisis. PRC President Xi Jinping has argued that the westward extension of the One Belt One Road initiative to the EU’s eastern members makes the PRC and EU like ‘neighbours’.Europe is the top destination for Chinese tourism outside Asia, welcoming 30% more travellers than America, and is the second most popular destination for Chinese students studying abroad.
However, shifts in power and conflicting values make this a complex and often difficult relationship. Many Chinese resent the EU’s arms embargo, denial of market economy status and criticism of China’s political system and human rights record. Beijing and Brussels both favour multilateralism and globalisation but interpret them very differently. Imperialism and modernisation have given Europe an important but uncomfortable role in China’s modern history. Crises in the EU undermine Beijing’s confidence in its largest trade partner. Chinese people are also aware that Europeans worry about China’s rising nationalism and geopolitical assertiveness. Rapidly expanding Chinese cultural diplomacy initiatives such as the Confucius Institutes create social links with Europeans, but have also led to accusations of censorship and propaganda. Chinese and European attitudes to one another are made more complex by their mutual relations with third parties, such as Russia, Africa and, especially, the United States.
Due to the complexity of these relations, we welcome papers from the widest possible range of perspectives, and from disciplines such as political science, law, history, philosophy and anthropology. Participants will be encouraged to move beyond the current focus of scholarship on official views, to how these are shaped by complex relationships within wider society and culture. By inviting guests from the Chinese foreign policy-making establishment, the event can help sensitise officials to this complexity. We also hope to include a range of research methodologies, from discourse analysis to quantitative surveys. Contributors are encouraged to be explicit about their use of conceptual tools such as perception, opinion, narrative and representation.
We expect all papers to be based on original research, considering both opinions about European integration and the opinion holders themselves. Interested researchers should submit their paper proposal in one Word document containing two elements:
an abstract of your paper (maximum 300 words) with information on its focus, key arguments, conceptual approach and research basis
a short biographical abstract (maximum 300 words) with information on you, your institutional affiliation and relevant ongoing research projects and/or publications.
Please submit proposals to both organisers, Richard McMahon (rychumac@yahoo.com) and LIU Hongsong (hsliu@shisu.edu.cn) no later than 14 February2019. The successful applicants will be notified no later than 28 February 2019.
We can ordinarily cover travel costs up to a maximum of 2500 RMB (usually economy class flight or second class express train) and accommodation in Shanghai for one or two nights (13-14 September 2019) as well as subsistence during the conference.
