Studying Chinese Politics in an Age of Specialization

Let One Hundred Flowers Bloom, Let One Hundred Thoughts Contend: Political Science with Chinese Characteristics

“…1 Conversely, others have called for the end of disciplinary or methodological "nationalism" and move toward a more holistic, global political science [2,6,29]. Thus we are left with a quandary for Chinese political science: Does it "Go it alone" in a form of disciplinary unilateralism or does it strive to integrate into a more globalized political science that may very well not see China as necessarily unique?…”

Towards Area-Smart Data Science: Critical Questions for Working with Big Data from China

“…In contrast to the common belief that area expertise is mainly based on knowledge of language or factual information about context and events, I do not reduce area studies to contextual knowledge. Area expertise is an interdisciplinary approach that brings together scholars with diverse disciplinary and methodological backgrounds who have made a long-term commitment to a specific area or region in the world (Katzenstein 2001, O'Brien 2011, Pieke 2013. As such, area-studies also encompass an understanding of theoretical and methodological debates relevant to a specific geographical location in the world.…”

Working in No Man’s Land: Between Sociology and Chinese Studies

“…The opposite argument, that it is mistaken, or premature, to incorporate the study of China into the mainstream of a discipline, can also be found. An example was Kevin O'Brien's keynote address to the Chinese Studies Association of Australia (CSAA) at the 2011 conference held at ANU (O'Brien, 2011). O'Brien bemoans the trend, as he sees it, for researchers on Chinese politics increasingly to be involved in general debates in political science which, because they are so specialised, fragment the community of China scholars who talk less and less to each other.…”