Tocqueville Between East and West
Reframing Tocqueville’s ideas through an Eastern lens: what democracy and freedom mean in China.

This book adopts an Eastern or Chinese perspective on Alexis de Tocqueville’s political thought, highlighting the aristocratic nature of his theory of freedom and how it would be understood by a nineteenth-century traveler from Europe to the East. What would that traveler see in China? What kind of freedom would be identified in Chinese social contexts? And how would Confucianism figure in today’s politics?

Tocqueville Between East and West departs from the usual present-day distinction between democracy and authoritarianism, to analyze how ideas of the equality of conditions have affected both China and the West, albeit in different forms. Duan here argues that the Tocquevillian spirit of democracy, although inevitable for human societies, is not an end but rather a condition according to which we must regularly adjust ourselves to stay free, whether in the West or the East. 
1147038958
Tocqueville Between East and West
Reframing Tocqueville’s ideas through an Eastern lens: what democracy and freedom mean in China.

This book adopts an Eastern or Chinese perspective on Alexis de Tocqueville’s political thought, highlighting the aristocratic nature of his theory of freedom and how it would be understood by a nineteenth-century traveler from Europe to the East. What would that traveler see in China? What kind of freedom would be identified in Chinese social contexts? And how would Confucianism figure in today’s politics?

Tocqueville Between East and West departs from the usual present-day distinction between democracy and authoritarianism, to analyze how ideas of the equality of conditions have affected both China and the West, albeit in different forms. Duan here argues that the Tocquevillian spirit of democracy, although inevitable for human societies, is not an end but rather a condition according to which we must regularly adjust ourselves to stay free, whether in the West or the East. 
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Tocqueville Between East and West

Tocqueville Between East and West

by Demin Duan
Tocqueville Between East and West

Tocqueville Between East and West

by Demin Duan

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Overview

Reframing Tocqueville’s ideas through an Eastern lens: what democracy and freedom mean in China.

This book adopts an Eastern or Chinese perspective on Alexis de Tocqueville’s political thought, highlighting the aristocratic nature of his theory of freedom and how it would be understood by a nineteenth-century traveler from Europe to the East. What would that traveler see in China? What kind of freedom would be identified in Chinese social contexts? And how would Confucianism figure in today’s politics?

Tocqueville Between East and West departs from the usual present-day distinction between democracy and authoritarianism, to analyze how ideas of the equality of conditions have affected both China and the West, albeit in different forms. Duan here argues that the Tocquevillian spirit of democracy, although inevitable for human societies, is not an end but rather a condition according to which we must regularly adjust ourselves to stay free, whether in the West or the East. 

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781837722853
Publisher: University of Wales Press
Publication date: 12/20/2025
Series: Political Philosophy Now
Pages: 256
Product dimensions: 5.43(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Denim Duan is professor of politics at Peking University, China.

Table of Contents

Preface
Chapter 1 Introduction
Chapter 2 Empire and Freedom
Chapter 3 Aristocrat in Democracy
Chapter 4 Déjà vu: Tocqueville in China
Chapter 5 People and Hierarchy: Confucianism in Today’s China
Chapter 6 Another Form of Representation
Chapter 7 A Tale of Two Revolutions
Chapter 8 Conclusion: Tocqueville between East and West
Bibliography
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