Democracy Through the Lens of Chinese Scholars

"The strength of Li's book lies in its scope. The book surveys a significant number of intellectuals active in the public sphere since the beginning of the post-Mao era, ranging from those relatively more familiar to mainstream political theory such as Daniel A. Bell, Bai Tongdong and Wang Hui to those who have largely been neglected, such as Xie Tao. For readers interested in mapping the landscape of contemporary Chinese thought, Democracy Through the Lens of Chinese Scholars can be a useful guide pointing them toward individuals, texts and problematics important for understanding the trajectory of Chinese political thought in the last few decades." — The China Quarterly

"Can intellectual argument still shape political life under conditions today of tightening ideological control? Li offers no easy reassurance. What the book asks of its reader, instead, is a more difficult recognition: that democratic thought in China, no less than elsewhere in the world where it is under siege, has not vanished, but survives in … scattered, contested, and often compromised forms." — The China Journal

"…Democracy Through the Lens of Chinese Scholars offers a structured and analytically grounded account of contemporary Chinese democratic thought. Li opens space for renewed engagement with comparative political theory, particularly regarding how democratic ideas acquire new meanings beyond their Western genealogies." — Asian Studies Review

"This study provides a solid overview of the Chinese discourse on democracy and its ideational competitors. China's political trajectory is certainly affected by its debates on alternative political models. Hence, to understand China's past, present, and the future requires intimate understanding of the ideas that have shaped its political trajectories. Democracy Through the Lens of Chinese Scholars fulfills that role and therefore constitutes a major contribution to the study of Chinese politics." — Baohui Zhang, Lingnan University, Hong Kong