Neo-Confucianism,+communitarianism,+&+civic+...

Download a PDF of this page. ** Neo-Confucianism, communitarianism, and civic republicanism: A cross-cultural understanding of civic engagement and international service-learning ** John Annette, Professor and President, Richmond University [J.Annette@richmond.ac.uk]


 * Keywords:** Neo‐Confucianism, China, communitarianism, citizenship


 * Conference track:** Global community engagement and comparative studies


 * Format:** Research/Scholarly paper

In the 1990s, the notion of ‘Asian values’ was devised for the purpose of challenging Western‐style civil and political freedoms. Asians, this perspective claims, place special emphasis upon family and social harmony. The implication of these values is that those in the chaotic and crumbling societies of the West should think twice about intervening in Asia for the sake of promoting human rights and democracy.
 * Summary**

The liberal‐neo‐Confucian debate within this Asian value framework is one of the most interesting intellectual controversies in modern China. Concerning the development of democracy and liberal human rights in China, liberal thinkers criticize the deficiencies of Chinese traditional culture. By contrast, the neo‐Confucians either explore the possibilities of absorbing democracy and liberal values into Chinese culture or indicate that Confucianism contains the seeds for the development of citizenship education and civic engagement. Liberals and neo‐Confucians hence dispute whether there is continuity between Chinese traditional culture and modernity. Basically, Chinese liberals adopt a pessimistic viewpoint and assume that Chinese traditional culture and modernity are incompatible, whereas most neo‐Confucians hold an optimistic attitude and make an effort to construct a philosophical justification for a reconciliation between Chinese culture and modernity.

In this presentation, I will explore the above‐mentioned debate between Chinese liberals and neo‐Confucians, especially from a contemporary perspective such as the liberal communitarian debate in the English‐speaking world.I want to consider the emergence of Neo‐Confucianism and compare it to the Western traditions of communitarianism and civic republicanism. I will then analyse how this provides an important basis for comparing the emergence of citizenship education and service learning in Singapore, the Republic of China, and the USA. In conclusion, I will then compare the Neo‐Confucian and communitarian models of service-learning promoting good citizenship with the Western models of civic republican conceptions of citizenship.

There were no references provided with this proposal.
 * References**


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