ASIA 330 - Religion, Critical Theory and Politics

Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)

Advanced study in selected aspects of religion and contemporary philosophical and political theory. May be taken more than once for credit when content changes.

Topic for 2023/24a: Restless Empire: China, Religion, and the Nation-State. (Same as RELI 330) This seminar takes as its starting point a question posed by one of China’s most eminent scholars, Wang Hui, who asks: “What is the nature of the historical emergence or construction of modern Chinese identity, ideas of geography, and senses of sovereignty?” Within the mechanics of the nation-state there is a structural connection between texts (constitutions, legal codes, national histories), ostensibly universal and normative categories (race, religion, citizen, freedom, human rights), and territoriality (the integrity of sovereignty and the claim and control over resources and people). These are three foundational components of the nation-state, but a fourth binds them together: the sacred, or more specifically, a process of sacralization. Further examining this process allows us to think about new ways of understanding China’s approach to legality, control of the populace, religious freedom, human rights, and the structuring of international relations. In doing so we raise existential questions about the fundamental nature of the nation-state. Michael Walsh.

One 2-hour period.

Course Format: CLS