Contender States and Modern Chinese International Thought

Seminar Introduction:

How can we understand the production of modern Chinese international thought from a non-culturalist and internalist perspective? In this talk, Dr Ferran Perez Mena will discuss his book titled Contender States and Modern Chinese International Thought: From the Republican Era to the “Chinese School of International Relations.” Drawing from theories in international historical sociology and analysing the interplay between knowledge production, state formation, and geopolitical contestation over the longue durée, the book argues that the development of modern Chinese international thought has been shaped by China’s evolving structural position as a contender state in the global order since 1912. He will demonstrate how, despite variations in the ways Chinese intellectuals have interpreted and developed ideas about world politics across different periods in the 20th century, certain enduring themes, strategic concerns, and epistemological positions have persisted.

About Dr Ferran Perez Mena:

Dr. Ferran Perez Mena is an Assistant Professor in international relations of East Asia. He holds a PhD in International Relations from the Department of Global Studies at Sussex University. His primary research interests include modern Chinese international thought, international historical sociology, transnational Chinese elite networks in the Global South, and transnational relations between Chinese and Western knowledge, political and economic elites.

Host or Publisher SGIA PhD Association