China | openDemocracy

“Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric.”

- Bertrand Russell

Dying and killing, killing and dying

Jim Gabour 19 May 2013

Our columnist explores the language and the headlines of dying and killing, from Tibet to the United States to Iraq.

China: what we think we know is wrong

Kerry Brown 15 May 2013

There's been too much lazy categorisation. It's time to get microscopic about power in China, says Kerry Brown.

Syrian crisis now a global affair

Ahmed E. Souaiaia 12 May 2013

The outcome of the Syrian crisis, no matter what that might be, will delimit the new Middle East in a way that will affect the entire world—not just Syria and the region

North Korea, the hand of history

Paul Rogers 18 April 2013

All states involved in the Korean crisis are influenced by their historical experience, but the recent past weighs most heavily on Pyongyang.

No, China is not becoming an almighty superpower

Fokke Obbema 3 April 2013

The fear of China becoming a global hegemon has permeated public discourse in the west. Journalists have been guilty of small self-indulgences with the truth to fit the narrative. The result is a distorted view of China in the western media.

Laying siege to the villages: neighbourhoods for the working poor

Mary Ann O’Donnell 28 March 2013

Part 4: As of 2013, with a population of 140,000 residents Baishizhou was the largest of Shenzhen's urban villages. The sheer size and density of the village highlights the contradictions between formal and informal urbanization of the city.

Laying siege to the villages: informal urbanization in the outer districts

Mary Ann O’Donnell 28 March 2013

Part 3: Shenzhen township and village enterprises (TVEs) in the outer districts were quick to take advantage of neoliberal reforms, and by 1990 had become de facto urban planners, developers and industrialists of the city. Next: Neighbourhoods for the working poor

Laying siege to the villages: neoliberalizing the bamboo curtain

Mary Ann O’Donnell 28 March 2013

Part 2: Both Cold War geo-politics and the rush to develop the neoliberal city informed the development of a particular form of urban inequality within Shenzhen's informal villages. Next: Informal urbanization in the outer districts

Laying siege to the villages: the Nantou peninsula

Mary Ann O’Donnell 28 March 2013

Part 1: The urbanization of Shenzhen references three key moments in China's history. Such moments are spatially expressed in concentric development around traditional villages. Next: Neoliberalizing the bamboo curtain

Laying siege to the villages: lessons from Shenzhen

Mary Ann O’Donnell 28 March 2013

In this 4-part series, Mary Ann O'Donnell explores the social antagonisms that have emerged through Shenzhen's informal urbanization of villages. Each article features a corresponding photo-walk. Next: Lessons from Shenzhen: the Nantou peninsula

The Great Firewall of China

China correspondent 15 March 2013

China’s authorities maintain a tight grip on the web. But with increasing numbers of tech-savvy users, how long can this control last? Index’s China correspondent investigates  .

China, the politics of corruption

Kerry Brown 15 March 2013

China's new leader Xi Jinping has gathered more power more quickly than any of his predecessors. The big test now facing him will be to translate his concern about corruption into decisive action - and the early signs are promising, says Kerry Brown.

Shenzhen: constructing the city, reconstructing subjects

Jonathan Bach 14 March 2013

Shenzhen, one of our greatest contemporary urban experiments, faces huge challenges in integrating the non-urban populations on which the city was built, into the city-proper.

Is China more democratic than Russia?

Ivan Krastev 12 March 2013

On paper, Russia’s political system is an impressive reproduction of Western representative democracy, while the Chinese system remains an unreconstructed autocracy. The reality of the situation is much more complex, says Ivan Krastev.

Rebuilding the walls

Jillian C. York 12 March 2013

The internet promised “shared humanity in all its messy glory”. But national governments are keen to turn back the global tide of communications.

This week's editor

Heather McRobie is a regular contributor to 50.50

Europe from the bottom up

European Union stars in Paris. Flickr/notarim. Some rights reserved.

A new Europe can only come from the bottom up
Etienne Balibar

A social Europe must be a political Europe
Bo Stråth

As Europe is provincialized: a reply to Etienne Balibar
Sandro Mezzadra

European debate

A republican call for a basic income
Daniel Raventos and Julie Wark

Nuclear non-proliferation

Women and the Arab Spring

oDRussia at journalismfestival .com

Mali - the plot thickens

Remote control war

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