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From the shirts on our backs to the devices in our pockets China produces the goods our civilisation seemingly depends on. We are steeped in Chinese materiality and aesthetics that are indistinguishable from our own at the point of consumption. Viewed from the West therefore China is a cultural and political entity made up entirely of our projections.But while China’s products are ubiquitous in Walmart Beijing’s ideas assert themselves only by proxy. China’s relationships to concepts like capitalism and democracy are obscure to the Western mind which views their Eastern implementations as corruptions. For all the work of globalisation China remains a stubborn distant universe in our collective imagination despite its constant presence in our lives.
How did the world’s nominally capitalist corporations become dependent on a regime which continues to re-affirm its commitment to Marxism? Are we China’s competitors or collaborators? Does the prospect of re-shoring hailed by some as a solution to the West’s questions of sovereignty mean throwing money at Chinese companies in an attempt to persuade them to open new factories in the West?
As we ponder what China actually looks and feels like – what human rights really mean and which system of governance delivers the greatest happiness of the greatest number – how would we compare its success to Britain’s in ages past? Is it worth giving up multi-party democracy and our so-called freedom of speech for high-speed rail that works pristine shopping malls and a golden future of equity and universal comradeship guaranteed by social credit scoring?
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Verdurin, 2 Clunbury St, London N1 6TT, United Kingdom, London
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