Abstract

ExcerptThis paper aims to demonstrate how political study in China contributes to and facilitates debates among Chinese and Western authors by fostering a plural understanding of political science generally, conceptually, and methodologically that goes beyond the simple dichotomization of democracy and authoritarianism. Over the last four decades (1978 to the present), Chinese political study has been shaped by two indigenized schools, among others: historical political study (lishi zhengzhi xue 历史政治学) and fieldwork political study (tianye zhengzhi xue 田野政治学). Some stimulating debates have unfolded in these two narratives by simultaneously reintroducing history and reconceptualizing Chinese politics through straightforward fieldwork. These two indigenized approaches include epistemological, ontological, theoretical, and methodological aspects, and the spontaneous reconstruction of the “Chinese school” rebalances both the “scope conditions” and Chineseness of the discipline. Should these two conceivable branches not be purely descriptive, the question remains whether they represent the future trajectory of Chinese political study or merely a transient occurrence during China’s transitional stage.