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

Abstract

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.