Hegemonic Worldview And International Relations

Scientific research needs Problematique. The Problematique of this dissertation is why China puts forward the Harmonizing worldview. We can consider "harmonizing worldview" as an idea or a point of view, at the same time, it is a kind of worldview, which bases upon Chinese's judgments about international situations and thus make prospects for the developing tendency of the world. This kind of worldview contains a distinct world order project with Chinese Characteristics. Therefore, it is necessary and possible to discuss the implications of the Harmonizing worldview from the perspective of the relationship between worldviews and international relations. However, Chinese academic circle seldom studies the Harmonizing worldview from this perspective till now, even if the general relationship between worldviews and international relations hasn't been amply explored home and abroad. Exploring the Harmonizing worldview from the above-mentioned perspective is not conflict with Deng Xiaoping's guideline for Chinese foreign policy that China doesn't regard ideology as the criterion to differentiate friends from enemies. Deng's argument is used to guide Chinese foreign practice, and it doesn't demand China to abandon its present worldview or not to innovate worldview keeping up with the times. When treating the harmonizing worldview as a kind of worldview, we can explore its implications from the framework of relationship between worldview and international relations. In order to avoid the impressions of "a diplomatic slogan" and "Utopia", the Harmonizing worldview should improve its scientific degree, and need finish three missions which include critical inquiry, interpretative inquiry and normative inquiry. The main purpose of this dissertation is to complete the mission of critical inquiry of the Harmonizing worldview.This dissertation agrees the argument of Karl Marx's'The ideas of the ruling class in every epoch are the dominant ideas', and extends it to the field of international relations. However, It is different from in domestic society which depends on the ideology of the ruling class to ensure the oppression and governance of ruled class, this function in the field of international relations is carried out by hegemonic worldview. In current international relations, the modern western worldview plays the role of a hegemonic worldview. This dissertation pays special attention to the acculturation of hegemonic worldview's presuppositions into the international relations knowledge. There are innate relationships between worldviews and international relations knowledge, which are seldom realized by international relations scholars. The former provides diverse ontology and epistemology for the latter, and the latter guarantees the former avoiding critique and interrogation from other worldviews. The three mainstream theories of western countries, namely Structural Realism, Neo-Liberal Institutionalism, Constructivism, all consider themselves are objective and universal, but after exploring the relationship between international relations knowledge and hegemonic worldview's presuppositions, we can find out they have the impulses to eliminate and assimilate different worldviews, different cultures and different political systems. It is the exact reason that we can not accept the hegemonic worldview and international relations knowledge derived from it without critique. The Hegemonic worldview always produces symbolic power effects. Through spreading international knowledge and embedding into the operations of international regimes, the Hegemonic worldview and its presuppositions influence even shape people'mental structure and worldviews unconsciously, and then cancel legitimacy and validity of other worldviews and its international relations knowledge. The Hegemonic worldview is a kind of hazardous force and its functions hardly been aware of, therefore it is an effective approach and a dangerous weapon used by western countries to assimilate and overcome the diversi ty of cultures, worldviews and political systems in the world. Why we need to counter the Hegemonic worldview is that we have to safeguard the diversi ty of worldviews, and then protect diverse world order projects, in order to prevent the world from becoming an'Empire of Uniformity'Criticizing the Hegemonic worldview is served to improve the academic level and scientific degree of the Harmonizing worldview. The Hegemonic worldview not only exists abroad, but also around us. When Chinese international relations scholars simply appropriate western international relations knowledge to explain theoretical propositions and foreign practices of China without deep examinations, they always consolidate the dominant position of the Hegemonic worldview unconsciously. They failed to consider that the Harmonizing worldview has its own distinct world order project and fundamental characters which is different from the Hegemonic worldview's, because it combines the insights of Chinese traditional worldview with Marxism worldview. We can not conclude the Harmonizing worldview is just a strategic slogan without deep researches, and then simply abandon it. The internalization of the Hegemonic worldview and its presuppositions is not only an important reason that the Harmonizing worldview hasn't been theorized fully, but also partial roots of Chinese academic circle hasn't advanced original international relations theories. By bringing worldview back into international relations, this dissertation tries to solve following questions:unmasking the relationship between worldview and international relations knowledge, the operating mechanisms of the Hegemonic worldview, its theoretical and political consequences, and its control over of Chinese international relations scholars, and so on. All of these are intend to improve the scientific degree of the Harmonizing worldview and to clear thought obstacles for it to promote its self-affirmation and self-empowering. This dissertation argues, criticizing the Hegemonic worldview is a basic prerequisite for the Harmonizing world to show its vitality, and is also an inevitable demand to win responses and respects from home and abroad. After trying to complete the mission of the critical inquiry, this dissertation also makes some hints for the missions of interpretive inquiry and the normative inquiry of the Harmonizing world.