Intellectuals, Utopian Dreams, and the Question of Human Rights in China

Product Description This book brings together 13 papers published by the author over the past 50 years, arranged chronologically, so the reader can follow the unfolding development of the author’s thinking on the issues discussed here. The essays primarily investigate the role intellectuals in the dramatic changes in China since the fall of the old imperial order, with an emphasis on the tension between the urge towards utopian dreams and the quest for human rights and democracy. The earlier pieces are two chapters from the author’s 1969 Columbia University PhD dissertation dealing with the Chinese Communist Party leadership methods and the conflict between the Party and the peasants during the time of the People’s Commune Movement. Several other essays on the question of human rights date from the 1980s and 1990s. The last two essays go beyond China to take up the debate on Asian values and the concept of peace in Asia. Given the unique perspective which differs from that of the ruling party and government in China, as well as the usual political realist perspective of the Western press, this book will contribute to a better understanding of the complex and entangled role of the intellectuals and the political process on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. It will be helpful to both the academic community and the well-educated general public. About the Author Mab Huang, PhD, is the Liberal Arts Chair Professor of Soochow University, Taipei. He received his LLB from National Taiwan University in 1955, his MA in International Relations from the University of Chicago in 1958, and his PhD in Political Science from Columbia University in 1969. His primary academic interests include Western political philosophy, international human rights law, and politics in Taiwan and China. He is the founder of the Chang Fo-Chuan Center for the Study of Human Rights, founding Editor-in-Chief of the Taiwan Human Rights Journal, and Editor-in-Chief of the Human Rights Dictionary.