It would only be a slight exaggeration to argue that the situation reversed
itself in the century following the French revolution. European political
thinkers from across the political spectrum pointed to Chinese thought and
its political manifestations as the opposite of ‘‘progress.’’ As John Stuart Mill
put it, ‘‘The greater part of the world has, properly speaking, no history,
because the despotism of Custom is complete. This is the case over the whole
East. Custom is there, in all things, theWnal appeal; justice and right mean
conformity to custom; the argument of custom no one, unless some tyrant
intoxicated with power, thinks of resisting’’ (Mill 1975 , 87 ). China was still
used to examine the political and philosophical inadequacies of Europe, but
instead of pointing the road to the future, it served as a ‘‘warning example’’
( 1975 , 88 ).
The twentieth centuryWnally presented an opportunity for more nuanced
understandings of East Asian political thought. There were more cross-
cultural exchanges: John Dewey and Bertrand Russell made lengthy visits to
China in the 1920 s, and they both expressed admiration for Chinese culture
and argued for a synthesis of ‘‘East’’ and ‘‘West.’’ Translations of Eastern
philosophies became more reliable, as did histories of East Asian societies.
Yet few Western political theorists made serious eVorts to learn from the
traditions and experiences of East Asian societies. 1 IndiVerence to East Asian
political thought—more generally, to non-Western political theory—has
been the blind spot of contemporary Western, especially Anglo-American,
political theory. Recently published introductory texts in political theory pay
no attention at all to political theories from the Confucian, Islamic, or Hindu
traditions (see, e.g., Kymlicka 2002 ; Swift 2001 ; Plant 1991 ;WolV 1996; Hamp-
ton 1997 ; Ball 1995 ).
Fortunately, there has been increased recognition of the need to engage
with non-Western political traditions during the past decade or so, with
the discipline of cross-cultural or comparative political theory beginning
to establish itself in Anglo-American academia (Dallmayr 2004 ). Leading
periodicals in theWeld have called for more contributions that deal with
non-Western thinkers and topics, and there have been more openings of
late for jobs in comparative political theory. Two book series have been
trying to address the deWcit in English-language works in comparative
political theory: Fred Dallmayr’s Global Encountersseries in comparative
1 One exception is the attraction to Maoist egalitarianism in the 1960 s. However, greater awareness of
‘‘actually-existing’’ Maoism, particularly the horrorsof the Cultural Revolution, soon put an end to this trend.
confucianism and anglo-american political theory 263