Reintroducing Friendship to International Relations:Relational Ontologies from China to the West

Nordin, Astrid Hanna Maria and Smith, Graham M. (2018) Reintroducing Friendship to International Relations:Relational Ontologies from China to the West. International Relations of the Asia Pacific, 18 (3). pp. 369-396. ISSN 1470-482X

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Abstract

Chinese government representatives and scholars have attempted to ameliorate fears about China’s rise by portraying China as a new and friendlier kind of great power. It is claimed that this represents a new way of relating which transcends problematic Western understandings of self-other relations and their tendency to slip into domination and enmity. This article takes such claims as a point of departure, and analyses them with focus on the explicit discussions of friendship in international relations theory. Paying attention to current Chinese thinking which emphasises guanxi relationships, friendship can contribute to the development of genuinely relational international relations thinking and move beyond a focus on ossified forms of friendship and enmity centred on the anxious self. The vantage point of friendship suggests a way out of the dangers of theorising Self in contrast to Other, and re-opens the possibility to conceptualise Self with Other.

Item Type:
Journal Article
Journal or Publication Title:
International Relations of the Asia Pacific
Uncontrolled Keywords:
/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/3300/3312
Subjects:
?? ECONOMICS, ECONOMETRICS AND FINANCE(ALL)POLITICAL SCIENCE AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONSSOCIOLOGY AND POLITICAL SCIENCE ??
ID Code:
124442
Deposited By:
Deposited On:
09 Apr 2018 09:30
Refereed?:
Yes
Published?:
Published
Last Modified:
16 Sep 2023 01:40