39th WIAPS Seminar

Date&Time

April 11, 2016 (Monday) 12:15-12:50

Venue

Waseda University: Waseda Campus :19th building 7F Room No.713

Intended Audience

WIAPS Full-time Faculty/Research Associates, WIAPS Exchange Researchers/Visiting Scholars/Visiting Researchers, GSAPS MA/PhD Students

Presentation1

Presenter

Christopher R Hughes　（Professor, London School of Economics and Political Science /WIAPS Visiting Scholar）

Presentation Theme

Militarism and the China Model: The Case of National Defense Education

Abstract

This paper argues that advocates of the China Model deploy notions of culture and tradition in a way that overlooks the role of militarism. Policy documents, discussions of educationalists and the content of teaching materials are used to show how the military, paramilitary and schools are used to propagate militaristic values and practices through National Defense Education (NDE). The genealogy of these policies is traced back to the experience of Chinese activists in Japan in the early twentieth century. The conclusion is that focusing on the role of militarism provides better insights into the maintenance of social stability in the China Model than resorting to vague notions of ‘culture’ and ‘tradition’.