Schmitt Fever: The use and abuse of Carl Schmitt in contemporary China

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Author(s)
Xie, Libin
Patapan, Haig
Griffith University Author(s)
Year published
2020
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This article examines “Schmitt Fever,” the reception and influence in contemporary China of the thought of Carl Schmitt, the German legal, constitutional, and political theorist notorious for his endorsement of National Socialism. It argues that an understanding of Schmitt Fever provides new insights into contested terrain and fracture lines of contemporary Chinese law and politics. It also shows how Western concepts are taken up in China, both philosophically and politically, and how their reception reveals valuable insights into the character of the major political contests in contemporary China. By examining the way ...
View more >This article examines “Schmitt Fever,” the reception and influence in contemporary China of the thought of Carl Schmitt, the German legal, constitutional, and political theorist notorious for his endorsement of National Socialism. It argues that an understanding of Schmitt Fever provides new insights into contested terrain and fracture lines of contemporary Chinese law and politics. It also shows how Western concepts are taken up in China, both philosophically and politically, and how their reception reveals valuable insights into the character of the major political contests in contemporary China. By examining the way Schmittian concepts such as “friend-enemy,” “sovereignty,” and “decisionism” are deployed by three contending groups of scholars—the “China Path,” “New Left,” and “Liberal” schools of thought—it shows the limitations of socialist and Marxist thought in contemporary debates, and a crisis in legitimacy regarding the foundational ideas that sustain and inform contemporary debates regarding the future direction of China.
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View more >This article examines “Schmitt Fever,” the reception and influence in contemporary China of the thought of Carl Schmitt, the German legal, constitutional, and political theorist notorious for his endorsement of National Socialism. It argues that an understanding of Schmitt Fever provides new insights into contested terrain and fracture lines of contemporary Chinese law and politics. It also shows how Western concepts are taken up in China, both philosophically and politically, and how their reception reveals valuable insights into the character of the major political contests in contemporary China. By examining the way Schmittian concepts such as “friend-enemy,” “sovereignty,” and “decisionism” are deployed by three contending groups of scholars—the “China Path,” “New Left,” and “Liberal” schools of thought—it shows the limitations of socialist and Marxist thought in contemporary debates, and a crisis in legitimacy regarding the foundational ideas that sustain and inform contemporary debates regarding the future direction of China.
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Journal Title
International Journal of Constitutional Law
Volume
18
Issue
1
Copyright Statement
© 2020 Oxford University Press. This is a pre-copy-editing, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in International Journal of Constitutional Law following peer review. The definitive publisher-authenticated version , Schmitt Fever: The use and abuse of Carl Schmitt in contemporary China, International Journal of Constitutional Law, 2020, 18 (1), pp. 130-146 is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1093/icon/moaa015.
Subject
International and comparative law
Political science
Legal theory, jurisprudence and legal interpretation
Social Sciences
Government & Law
POLITICS