Politische Diskurse, Intellektuelle und politischer Wandel Diskurswandel in China seit 1998 und seine ImplikationenThomas Heberer und and Nora Sausmikat

ASIEN – Nr. 82 (2002) pp. 35–60

In the wake of political transitions in East and Southeast Asia, especially after the Asian crisis 1997 there have been hot debates on political reform concepts among intellectuals of the different countries. Just as in Eastern and Central Europe, the role of the intellectual debates and of the intellectuals as an important political group has been mainly neglected when analyzing the political transition process. The aim of this study is to investigate, by focussing on the case of China, what kind of discourses are identifiable and what discourse strategies are used for discussing political reform and democracy. We would like to concentrate on the political function of intellectuals and the interrelatedness between political ideas or concepts and the position of the individual intellectual or the group of intellectuals and the interests and arguments which are tied to this position.