#497 Daniel Bell - Just Hierarchy: Why Social Hierarchies Matter in China and the Rest of the World
RECORDED ON APRIL 10th 2021.
Dr. Daniel A. Bell is Dean of the School of Political Science and Public Administration at Shandong University. He writes widely on Chinese politics and philosophy for the media including the New York Times, Financial times, Global Times, Nanfengchuang, Worldpost, Project Syndicate, and the Guardian’s Comment Is Free blog. Dr. Bell received the Huilin Prize in 2018. He is the author of numerous books including The China Model: Political Meritocracy and the Limits of Democracy (2015), The Spirit of Cities: Why the Identity of a City Matters in a Global Age[coauthored with Avner de-Shalit] (2011), China’s New Confucianism: Politics and Everyday Life in a Changing Society (2010), Beyond Liberal Democracy: Political Thinking for an East Asian Context (2006), East Meets West: Human Rights and Democracy in East Asia (2000), and, more recently, Just Hierarchy: Why Social Hierarchies Matter in China and the Rest of the World.
In this episode, we focus on Just Hierarchy. We first discuss what is a hierarchy, and what makes for a just hierarchy. Throughout the conservation, we refer to different kinds of hierarchies: relations between intimates; relations between citizens; relations between states; relations between humans and nonhuman animals; and relations between humans and AI. We talk about the progressive conservative perspective to hierarchy presented in the book. We discuss the differences between Chinese hierarchy and hierarchies in the West, and also how it relates to hierarchies in other Eastern Asian countries. We also ask what could be some of the reasons behind China’s international success. Finally, we discuss what the West could learn from China.
Time Links:
Intro
What is a just hierarchy?
A progressive conservative perspective
How Chinese hierarchy differs from Western hierarchies
Communism in China
China’s international success
Relations with intimates; relations with citizens; relations with animals; and relations with AI
What the West could learn from China
Follow Dr. Bell’s work!
Follow Dr. Bell’s work:
Faculty page: https://bit.ly/3uwxicG
Website: https://bit.ly/3opBqId
Works on Researchgate: https://bit.ly/2PTzg8h
Just Hierarchy: https://amzn.to/39tw0Yr