Teaching Political Theory Research Articles

China's new Confucianism: politics and everyday life in a changing society

Preface to the Paperback Edition ix Acknowledgments xxiii Introduction xxvii Part One: Politics 1 Part 1: From Communism to Confucianism: Changing Discourses on China's Political Future 3 Part 2: War, Peace, and China's Soft Power 19 Part 3: Hierarchical Rituals for Egalitarian Societies 38 Part Two: Society 57 Part 4: Sex, Singing, and Civility: The Costs and Benefits of the Karaoke Trade 59 Part 5: How Should Employers Treat Domestic Workers? 75 Part 6: The Politics of Sports: From the 2006 World Cup to the 2008 Olympics 91 Part Three: Education 105 Part 7: A Critique of Critical Thinking 107 Part 8: Teaching Political Theory in Beijing 128 Part 9: On Being Confucian: Why Confucians Needn't Be Old, Serious, and Conservative 148 Appendices Part 1: Depoliticizing the Analects 163 Part 2: Jiang Qing's Politi cal Confucianism 175 Index 231

On the Advantage and Disadvantage of History for Teaching Political Theory to Undergraduates

This paper argues that the standard approach to teaching the history of political thought does not serve the ultimate goals of political theory education, and that alternative approaches are needed to make the history of thought appropriate for undergraduates. A history of political thought for life ought to enhance a person's capacity to act as a political animal in three ways: as a moral person, as a free person, and as a citizen. But the most common practices in teaching the history of political thought suffer from the same criticisms that have been leveled at contemporary research in political theory, thereby undermining the study of political theory for life. Teaching the history of political thought should be based on a model where classical texts serve as Socratic gadflies that provide alternative perspectives on the perennial questions posed by contemporary political practice. Two alternative models can integrate both traditional approaches to the history of political thought with contemporary political practice to produce a history of political thought for life that is appropriate to the purposes of undergraduate education in political theory.

Best Practices: What Should We Do? Inviting Students into Political Theory through Action

Teaching political theory promises better thinkers, better community members, and better democratic citizens. Teaching political theory in a community of learning is often especially rewarding as the lived community experience of the campus becomes food for thought and a site of action. As an assistant professor beginning my first job, my challenge was to design an introductory course that would be compelling to students highly interested in contemporary politics and activism and less excited about theoretical inquiry and ultimate questions. I needed to develop a political theory course for a theory-shy audience. This is the story of a political theory course thematically centered on action. In a world impatient with thought and much more appreciative of the virtues of action, or at least activity, it is possible to invite students into the study of thought by focusing on the question of action.

Teaching Political Theory in Beijing

Few Western academics would aspire to teach political theory in an authoritarian setting. Surely the free, uninhibited flow of discussion is crucial to our enterprise. When I tell my Western friends that I gave up a tenured, high-paying job in relatively free Hong Kong for a contractual post at Tsinghua University in Beijing, they think I've gone off my rocker. I explain that it's a unique opportunity for me: it's the first time Tsinghua has hired a foreigner in the humanities since the revolution; Tsinghua trains much of China's political elite, and I might be able to make a difference by teaching that elite; the students are talented, curious, hardworking, and it's a pleasure to engage with them; the political future of China is wide open, and I'll be well placed to observe the changes when they happen. Still, I do not deny that teaching political theory in China has been challenging. This has to do partly with political constraints. But it's not all about politics. Even if China became a Western-style liberal democracy overnight, there would still be cultural obstacles to deal with. In this essay, I will discuss some of these political and cultural challenges.

What Do You Desire? What Do You Fear? Theorize it! Teaching Political Theory through Utopian Writing

Undergraduate students should not just study political theory. They should theorize. Writing-intensive political theory courses can help them do so sooner. By preparing an original political vision, a utopia or a dystopia, throughout the course of the semester, students read and compare the texts of the course against their own emerging texts and move into more critical and systematic political analysis. As a political theorist, my focus is not so much on utopias or dystopias as a subject of study per se, but on tapping into the creative freedom, critical distance, and hard-hitting insights of these traditions while teaching writing. I take seriously Berlin's above-stated concern for the “place and mode of operation” conveyed to the student through the process of learning to write. Visionary writing accelerates students' appreciation of the complexity of another's theory, but also of their own standpoint and capacity for agency and judgment. Khristina Haddad is assistant professor, department of political science, Moravian College. She teaches a writing-intensive course on visionary political writing and is affiliated with German Studies and Women's Studies. Her research interests include politics of time and temporality, Hannah Arendt, political action, fear, feminist theory, women's studies, and, in particular, the politics of women's health. I am greatly indebted to friends and colleagues who helped me along at various stages including (in alphabetical order) Robert Humanick, Eleanor Linn, Bob Mayer, Karla Morales, Laurie Naranch, Gary Olson, Miguelina Ortiz, Martha Reid, Joanna Vecchiarelli Scott, Lyman Tower Sargent, Joel Wingard, and Elizabeth Wingrove. Thanks go also to all those whose dedicated work inspires student writers and teachers of writing at the Gayle Morris Sweetland Writing Center at the University of Michigan, to helpful commentators at the Society for Utopian Studies' Annual Meeting in Toronto, to two anonymous reviewers at PS, and to three groups of students who shared their visions with me.

Teaching Political Theory: Meaning through Metaphor

If I were compelled to state my ultimate goal for my political theory students I'd have to quote George Santayana, who said, Hardly anybody except possibly the Greeks at their best has realized the sweetness and glory of being a rational animal. My goal for my Why is it that there is often resistance to thinking, to the life of the mind? Why do students believe that political theory must be an arcane and difficult subject? I offer a generalization. Most minds find abstract reasoning alien. Most minds are at least initially hostile