Roland Boer's Blog, page 53

New piece on Culture Matters: Jesus and Marx

My regular monthly piece on Culture Matters is now up, simply called ‘Jesus and Marx‘.

Brexit, Russia, China … and my second grandson

Amidst all the brouhaha over Brexit, it might be worth getting some perspective. Some preach doom, while others point out that the island off the western peninsula of the Eurasian land-mass means little for places like Australia (a couple of percentage points on the trade register). So it’s worth checking out a few other places for their angle on things. Needless to say, Sputnik is full of gleeful analysis – not surprising since the Russians have been providing assistance to the anti-EU parti...

New project on Socialism in Power

I am developing a sustained research project with some leading Marxist scholars in China – at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Renmin University and Fudan University. It is simply called ‘Socialism in Power’ and reflects a major development of my recent work. We seek to provide the philosophical framework for some underdeveloped categories of Marxist analysis in the crucial period of socialism in power, or what may be called ‘After October’. This is very much an international project,...

Farewell to China … for now

A belated farewell from a place that has really become my second home. We paid our respects to Chairman Mao (me for the second time) and had a bon voyage party. But I will be back in September, with a fancy title (distinguished research professor) and a new project with some of China’s leading Marxist scholars on socialism in power.

This is a photograph of Mao at al, acquired after visiting the mausoleum in the centre of Chinese communist power in Tiananmen Square:

And these are some of the...

Most intriguing …

This is arguably the most interesting sign I have seen in my many travels in China. I found it over a urinal while walking the back streets of Nanjing in search of yet another section of the 700 year old city wall (do not ask me why I was in a urinal with a camera …).

China Road conference: early bird registration extended to 15 June

The China Road conference now has over 100 papers, of which more than 40 will be presented by leading Chinese scholars. The conference will take place on 13-15 August, 2016.

Please note: the early bird registration is now extended to 15 June. The registration of AUD $180 includes lunches and morning and afternoon teas, and assists in defraying some of the costs of venue hire and simultaneous Chinese-English translation.

For more information, see the webpage.

Night sky over Beijing

Beautiful night over Beijing, with rain clouds in the last light:

Time for philosophy to flourish: Chairman Xi Jinping

How often do you hear a leader of a world power, a socialist one at that, say this? ‘It is time for philosophy to flourish’. The People’s Daily reports that Chairman Xi addressed a gathering leading philosophers and social scientists on 17 May.

President Xi Jinping held a rare, high-profile symposium on Tuesday on building up philosophy and the social sciences, marking Beijing’s latest effort to beef up its soft power and push for a larger say on the world stage.

He called for ‘more independe...

Undergraduate class at Renmin University

This is my last year teaching this undergraduate course at Renmin University of China (as well as the postgraduate course). Next year I move to a new agreement until 1919, so I will teach an intensive course on ‘Contradiction’, with close attention to Mao Zedong’s writing for understanding China today. The primary contradiction (to gloss Mao), is between socialism and capitalism – which are necessarily connected in a dialectical fashion. As my last undergraduate class draws to a close, we cel...

The subtle traps of Chinese modesty

Although I study Chinese language every day for at least a couple of hours, I know I will never appreciate the full range of its subtlety. Many expressions seek to soften a statement, modifying it ever so slightly so that one does not draw undue attention to oneself. Let me give one example, the character 算 (suan). It means to count, calculate, be counted or considered as. It all depends when and how you use it.

For example, one might say: 我的孩子算是学习好的 (wode haizi suan shi xuexi haode).

That is...