China Through American Eyes:

The Role of Liberalism

Peter GriesTHE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA

EAI / NCTA

The Old and New China Merge

Tulsa, OK

15 November 2014

Political psychology

• Perception is reality

• Who we are and what we believe shapes our views of the world, including China

1. Big “I” Ideology: Liberalism that all Americans share

2. Small “i” ideologies: Differences between different kinds of American liberals and conservatives

South Park: Olympic Nightmares

Liberalism: Maximizing individual freedom

• What Americans celebrate:

What we fear:

George Orwell’s “Big Brother”

“If you want to imagine the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face forever.” — George Orwell, 1984 (c1949)

“We don’t need no education.”

China through American Eyes

American Liberalism:1. Politics: The Democratic voter/ citizen2. Economics: The Capitalist entrepreneur 3. Religion: The Protestant believer.

Politics: Democracy and due processAmerica, land of the free, vs. China, land of the un-free

Gere in Red Corner, 1997Ambassador Sassar imprisoned, 1999

Economics:Capitalism

Time “Man of the Year,”1985

Embracing the market?Rejecting the state plan?

Religion: Christianity The Saved vs. the Heathen

The missionary impulse: “one billion souls.”

Focus on freedom of religion today:

• Falun gongPearl Buck, author of The

Good Earth, with her missionary family,

1894 China

The Daily Show with John Stewart

But not all Americans are alike…

…liberal and conservative ideologies shape views of China.

American liberals consistently feel warmer than conservatives do towards the world, including China.

Chapter 9:East Asia

Dual pathways from American ideologies to China policy preferences

Dual pathways from American ideologies to China policy preferences

Barry Goldwater &Libertarian

anti-communism

US political advertising