Yin Zhiguang 殷之光
Beijing: Contemporary World Press, 2022.
Reviewed by: Pawan Damodar Amin (PhD Candidate, Jawaharlal Nehru University, HYI Visiting Fellow)
In 1916, Rabindranath Tagore published a novel titled The Home and the World (original Bengali title: ঘরে বাইরে, Ghore Baire), a political drama set on the backdrop of India’s independence movement against the British. The title encapsulates the central conflict of the story – the clash between the private, sheltered world of the home (ghor) and the broader, chaotic world outside (baire). If this were to be extrapolated to the realm of international relations, it would follow that every country evolves their own inter-subjective understanding of the world based on their own domestic, historical, cultural and political experience. This in turn shapes their interactions with the global community, which should consequently shape the international order that we inhabit. However, international relations, as a discipline is myopic in its preoccupation with hard and discursive power, consequently ignoring how a vast majority of the world contributes to the creation of the world order.
Through this book, Yin Zhiguang attempts to bridge that gap by throwing light on the influence of independence movements outside the West, and on the creation of the world order after the Second World War. On the other hand, the author traces the norms that govern modern international relations such as sovereignty, nation, rights to their Eurocentric roots. He then proceeds to skillfully craft an argument against their universality given different historical experiences, and also the selective hypocrisy of the West when it comes to impartial applicability of these norms. Additionally, as the title suggests, the book focuses on analyzing of how China interacted with and influenced these developments that shaped the post-War global order.
Historical Context and Core Arguments
The focus of this book is on the period leading up to and following the Bandung Conference of 1955, and China’s efforts to foster solidarity among the newly independent countries in Asia and Africa. The Third World thus becomes the natural canvas for his research. Yin Zhiguang designed his approach by looking at the Third World as a “dialectical relationship between hegemony and counter-hegemony in the 20th century.” This gave him the latitude to dive into China’s own intellectual history and, by stitching together thoughts of Chinese historians as well as political leadership starting from the Republican era, this book makes a valiant attempt to show how China’s own experience shaped its perspective on global developments in the 1950’s and 60’s.
The book has been divided into different themes, so it doesn’t follow a chronological order, however it helps paint a vivid picture of different factors – historical, cultural, political and economic that influenced China’s behavior abroad. In an attempt to provide an alternative to the Western discourse on international relations, the first section challenges the significance of the Congress of Vienna given the limited geographical scope of the agreement. The author argues that, for the majority of the world emerging out of centuries of subjugation under colonial rule, the Bandung Moment was much more significant as it represented the first time when subjectivity gained conscious expression. He argues that the “independence movement of the third world needs to be understood in the historical context of formation of hegemonic order and its resistance.”
The second theme addressed in the book is ‘reshaping equality.’ This section highlights the contradiction within the global system, which was designed to ensure equal treatment for all states but rarely grants them equal representation. In this chapter, through rigorous archival research, the author highlights the disparity in rule setting and bargaining capacity of the members of Yalta Conference for the post-WWII order. The majority of the decisions were made between the US, USSR and the UK, while China and France were sidelined. This, coupled with the UN’s willful ignorance of the French colonial repression of Algeria, convinced China that international laws on legality of wars, just wars or right to self-defense are designed from the top-down. The book makes a case that these wars in the Third World should not be seen as proxy wars, but rather as an act of resistance against hegemony.
The next chapter is titled, ‘Recreate the Nation.’ This chapter studies the relationship between nationalism, sovereign state, historical narrative and cultural construction in European intellectual traditions. For a vast majority of Chinese living in the border areas, the identity of a ‘citizen’ was never established, since geographically, China has been constantly evolving. The book argues that the Long March of the Communist Party of China, enabled them to sow the seeds of liberation consciousness amongst various ethnic groups so at to resist Japanese imperialism. A better appreciation for ethnic inequality within China caused by hitherto unequal production relationship, impressed upon the ruling dispensation of the need to understand ethnic differences outside China in order to support their liberation struggle.
How this was operationalized both within and outside of China is discussed in the last two sections of the book. These sections highlight China’s own experience of uniting the masses in their common struggle against Japanese occupation. The process of fostering unity necessitated not only repairing Han relationship with other ethnic minorities, but also using education to uplift the masses. In these sections, the author is able to present the reader with how the world would have looked like to a Chinese in the mid-20th century who was consuming news through newspaper and radio. The author highlights the different sections in the newspaper like People’s Daily, which were designed to inform the Chinese about the international political situation and the rationale behind China’s policies. This serves as a good starting point to gauge how China saw the post-war world order.
Cultural Decolonization and Afro-Asian Cooperation
One of the books most compelling contributions is its emphasis on cultural decolonization as a cornerstone for Afro-Asian solidarity. The author argues that this was not a peripheral activity, but rather a central component for China’s vision of a decolonized world order. The strength of this work lies in its interdisciplinary approach of blending together history, political science and cultural studies together so as to provide a comprehensive understanding of the topic. The author has used archival material, including Chinese government documents, speeches and publications to add depth and authenticity to their proposition.
Critical Evaluation
There are however some limitations. The author’s focus on China’s agency sometimes tends to overshadow the contributions and perspectives of other Afro-Asian nations. While China’s role was undoubtably significant, a more balanced assessment would have helped paint a broader picture of China’s interactions with other member nations and the role that was played in shaping the movement. Secondly, the case studies of nations with whom China was collaborating, are mostly from West Asia and North Africa. From other publications, it is evident that this region is the author’s expertise, and the book does a thorough job of drawing on evidence to support his arguments. However, a broader geographical spread of case studies would have lent itself to showing the consistency of China’s approach to all regions and members of the Afro-Asian community.
Relevance and Contemporary Implication
Despite these limitations, A New World is a timely and important work that sheds light on an often-overlooked aspect of global history. This assessment is even more relevant today, given the increased fervor of China’s interaction with the global south and the growing indispensability of China to many regions of the global south. By examining the historical roots of these dynamics, this book provides an important addition to scholarship to guide further research into an under-studied area of twentieth century history.
More importantly, this book challenges dominant narratives about international relations, which has been historically marginalizing the agency of non-Western actors. This project is a reminder of the discursive power of the global south and its ability to influence global power structures when they come together.
Conclusion
Tagore fortunately did not have to bear the burden of academic credibility while penning his masterpiece, however, for an under researched subject like this, weaving theoretical constructs with archival evidence and secondary data over a decade deserves applause. The book offers a nuanced and compelling account of China’s effort to foster Afro-Asian solidarity and its vision for a decolonized global south. While the project would have benefitted from a more balanced consideration of other actors and a deeper exploration of contradictions in China’s approach, it remains an important resource. It provides insight into a crucial moment in modern history when an underrepresented majority on the global stage came together to carve out space for themselves and influence global policymaking in ways that reflect their interests and concerns. A New World: Afro Asian Solidarity and the PRC’s Imagination of Global Order is an important work to understand how a newly emergent China saw the world in 1950’s, and how it wished to be seen itself by the rest of the world.