Confucian Governmentality and Socialist Autocracy in Contemporary China

“Chih-yu Shih’s exploration of the puzzle of governmentality demonstrates that, while distinct, democracy and autocracy are not opposites but two forms of relational communitarian imaginaries, cosmologies and forms of organization.” Emilian Kavalski, Jagiellonian University in Krakow

"Chih-yu Shih develops very important arguments against binary understandings of politics, directing our attention to more complex governmentalities, without necessarily legitimising them." Hartmut Behr, Newcastle University

"Chih-yu Shih's analysis offers fascinating insights into the philosophical foundations of Chinese politics. His combination of Confucian cosmology and Foucauldian governmentality explores the hidden layers of state-society relations in the era of Xi Jinping." Nele Noesselt, University of Duisburg-Essen

Chih-yu Shih is National Chair and University Chair in the Department of Political Science at National Taiwan University.

Introduction: Autocracy and Its People

1. People’s Hearts as the Regime of Regimes

2. Restoring Normalcy during Involution

3. Governing Hong Kong by Loving the Nation

4. Pandemic Nationalism from Wuhan to China - co-authored with Pichamon Yeophantong

5. Xi Jinping’s Quest for Acceptance

6. Relational Democracy of Confucianism

7. A Pluriversal Dialogue with Ubuntu - co-authored with Raoul Bunskoek

Conclusion

Appendix: The Diagrammatic Logic of Counter-governmentality