China's Challenge to Liberal Norms

Is China challenging liberal norms or being socialised to them? This book argues that China is incrementally pushing for re-interpretation of liberal norms, but, the result is that rather than being illiberal, this reinterpretation produces norms that are differently liberal and more akin to the liberal pluralism of the 1990s. In developing this argument, the author presents a novel way to understand and assess these incremental changes, and the causes of them. The book's empirical chapters explore China's views on norms of sovereignty and intervention, and aid and development, contrasting them against the current western liberal practices, but making the case that they are congruent with the attitudes understood as being broadly liberal-pluralist. This book will appeal to students seeking to understand how rising states may affect the current institutions of international order, and make assessments of how fast that order may change. It will also appeal to scholars working on China and institutions by aiding the development of new lines of enquiry. 

Catherine Jones is Research Fellow in the Department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Warwick, UK. Her work focuses on the engagement of East Asian states with institutions contributing to global governance. Her research has been published in The Pacific Review, International Politics, and Pacific Focus, as well as in various book chapters. This project was initially funded through by the Leverhulme Trust, through a major research project - the Liberal Way of War - at the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Reading.