Studying China in the Absence of Access: Rediscovering a Lost Art — Part 2, with Alice Miller and Joseph Fewsmith

Sinica Podcast

Kaiser Kuo

Culture, China News, Hangzhou, Chinese, International Relations, Chongqing, Beijing, Sichuan, Currentaffairs, China, Politics, Chengdu, Shanghai, Guangzhou, China Economy, News, China Politics, Business, Film, Shenzhen

4.8 • 676 Ratings

🗓️ 27 February 2025

⏱️ 83 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This week: Part 2 in a series of podcasts in conjunction with the China Research Center at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). The series, titled "Studying China in the Absence of Access: Rediscovering a Lost Art," ran from September to November 2021, and featured four eminent "Pekingologists," or specialists in Chinese elite politics: Joseph Fewsmith, Thomas Fingar, Alice Miller, and Fred Teiwes. The talks were later published in a volume you can download here. The series is introduced by Andrew Mertha, George and Sadie Hyman, Professor of China Studies and director of the SAIS China Research Center, and each lecture includes a moderated discussion with Andy. After this series, I'll also be sharing with you a second series of lectures titled "Studying China from Elsewhere," which will include talks by Maria Repnikova, Mike Lampton, William Hurst, and Maggie Lewis — many of whom Sinica listeners will know from the show.

Alice Lyman Miller is a leading scholar of Chinese politics and foreign policy. A research fellow at the Hoover Institution and lecturer in East Asian Studies at Stanford University, she previously served as an analyst at the CIA and editor of China Leadership Monitor. Miller's work has been instrumental in decoding the opaque world of Chinese elite politics, with a particular focus on political discourse and leadership transitions. Her major publications include Becoming Asia: Change and Continuity in Asian International Relations Since World War II (2011).

Joseph Fewsmith is one of the foremost experts on contemporary Chinese politics, known for his in-depth analysis of political reform, elite competition, and policy shifts under the Chinese Communist Party. A professor of international relations and political science at Boston University, Fewsmith has authored seminal books such as China Since Tiananmen: The Politics of Transition (2001) and Rethinking Chinese Politics (2021), which challenge conventional wisdom on China's political system. His work blends rigorous historical analysis with close readings of official discourse.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, cynical listeners. I am very pleased to be able to bring you in collaboration with the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, SICE, China Research Center.
0:10.3	The second installment in a series of lectures titled Studying China in the Absence of Access, Rediscovering a Lost Art.
0:19.1	This series, which ran from September to November 2021,
0:22.6	featured four eminent Pekingologists or specialists in Chinese elite politics,
0:28.6	Joseph Fusmith, Thomas Finger, Alice Miller, and Fred Tewis.
0:33.6	The series is introduced by Andrew Mertha,
0:36.6	who is George and Sadie Hyman Professor of China Studies and director of the Sice China Research Center, and each lecture includes moderated discussion with Andy.
0:45.5	We'll be chatting with Andy and with some of the other speakers in future episodes of Sinica as well.
0:51.0	After this series, I'll also be sharing with you a second series of lectures titled
0:55.2	Studying China from Elsewhere, which will include talks by Maria Repnikova, Mike Lampton,
1:01.8	William Hurst, and Maggie Lewis, many of whom cynical listeners will know from the program.
1:08.0	So today's talk features Alice Lyman Miller and Joe Fusmith, both absolute legends
1:13.1	in the field.
1:14.4	Andy will give a full introduction to both of them in just a second, and thank you so much
1:19.0	to Andy and to Host Coleman of Sice for making this possible.
1:24.0	Let me also thank the University of Wisconsin Center for East Asian Studies for Making
1:28.3	Cynica possible in 2025.
1:31.1	Please enjoy the talk.
1:34.6	Hi, good afternoon.
1:36.2	It is great to have everybody here.
1:39.1	My name is Andrew Murtha.
1:40.7	I'm the Georgian-City Hyman professor of China Studies here at SICE, and I'm also the director of the
	...

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