Friday March 12, 2021
12:30-1:30 p.m.
Online Zoom Meeting
Dear Colleagues:
Greetings. Spring approaches, and may we all stay very well and hope the virus fades as a thousand flowers bloom.
Meanwhile, social distancing continues on campus and the more than three decades-old tradition of the “Friday Lunch” will continue in its new, online form through the semester. This week we look at one of the major factors in international politics – the course of China under the rule of Xi Jinping.
U.S. policy in regard to China involves concern about its effects on the U.S. and world economies, worries about potential military actions ranging from its neighbors to outer space, China’s roles in international organizations and, somewhere in there, the Chinese government’s behavior in regard to human rights and democratic norms. The Biden administration may care more about the latter than the Trump administration did, but no U.S. government is likely to have much leverage.
Whether or not the U.S. government can do much about it, however, how China is governed will be important both for its 1.4 billion people and as a possible model for other nations – or their ambitious politicians. So what is going on? Defining the present and future of Xi Jinping’s regime has become a bit of a cottage industry in recent years. Now our emeritus colleague Steve Feldman has weighed in with a striking interpretation.
Building on Hannah Arendt’s concept of “pre-totalitarianism,” Professor Feldman uses extensive field data to elucidate both the totalitarian elements of Xi’s governance and the conditions that may allow a further flowering of dictatorial political organization. Reviewers call his interpretation both “provocative” and “strongly recommended.” In the words of Julia Strauss, who visited us last February shortly before so much closed down, the book’s “analysis of such wide-ranging themes as political structure, censorship, factions, and the vexed role of memory and fear offers something for everyone in an engaging and thoughtful manner.”
Please join us for an incisive look at one of the great political questions of our time.
Signing In
This semester’s discussions will begin at 12:30 p.m., the usual time. The meeting will be set up as from Noon to 2:00 p.m., so people are not all signing in at the same time and to allow for the discussion to run a bit long. Each week we will send out this newsletter with information about the topic. It will also include a link to register (for free) for the discussion. Every Monday the same information will be posted on our website: fridaylunch.case.edu.
If you register, you will automatically receive from the Zoom system the link to join the meeting. This week’s link for registration is:
https://cwru.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYod-2hrjssHtIUOHQMXSmLlCklN9Skvwqj
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Please e-mail padg@case.edu if you have questions about how the Zoom version of the Friday Lunch will work or any other suggestions. Or call at 216 368-2426 and we’ll try to get back to you. We are very pleased to be partnering this semester with the Siegal Lifelong Learning Program to share information about the discussions.
Best wishes for safety and security for you and yours,
Joe White
Luxenberg Family Professor of Public Policy and Director, Center for Policy Studies
About Our Guest
Steven Feldman, Ph.D, began teaching at Case Western Reserve University in 1983 after receiving his PhD from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. American and Chinese business relations are at the heart of his current research, including Trouble in the Middle: American-Chinese Business Relations, Cullture, Conflict, and Ethics (Routledge, 2013). His questions include what ethical and cultural challenges American executives face in China and how they are responding to these challenges. His work provides detailed accounts of Chinese business practices and insight into how to respond most effectively to them within American fair trade laws and without jeopardizing business. Feldman’s other research further examines organizational theory, decision-making and politics. His teaching interests lie in business and professional ethics, social and political environment of management, corporate governance, nonprofit ethics, nonprofit governance, organization theory, qualitative methods, and organization behavior.
Schedule of Friday Lunch Upcoming Topics and Speakers:
March 19: What’s the Problem With Big Tech? With Anat Alon-Beck, J.D., Assistant Professor of Law.
March 26: Behemoth: Amazon Rising. With Robin Gaster, President, Incumetrics Inc. and Visiting Scholar, George Washington University.
April 2: Student Debt: What Are the Problems? For Whom? And What Could Be Done? With Richard Kazis, Senior Consultant, MDRC, Nonresident Senior Fellow in the Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program, and Board Chair of The Institute for College Access and Services.
April 9: Healthcare, Public Health, and Population Health. With Scott Frank, MD, Associate Professor and Director of Public Health Initiatives, Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences.
April 16: Dropping the Pilot? Assessing Angela Merkel’s Chancellorship. With Kenneth F. Ledford, Ph.D., Chair, Department of History.
April 23: Depression’s Past and Future. With Jonathan Sadowsky, Ph.D., Theodore J. Castele Professor of History.
April 30: The Republican Party and Demographic Change. With Girma Parris, Ph.D., Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science.
May 7: Defending Disability Insurance. With Kathy Ruffing, Senior Fellow, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. |
