ABSTRACT
Today, the politics of contemporary China presents us with something of a riddle. Xi Jinping embodies the ambiguities, since he has simultaneously been described as right and left and draws on Confucius, Marx, Mao, and many other figures of the past. Xi uses the term “globalization” to refer to many aspects of capitalism, but the term is too abstract to register the theoretical significance of a harmonious world beyond the blind pursuit of profit. Both tianxia and contemporary capitalist world are forms of globalization, but appeal of tianxia lies precisely in its being an alternative to the latter. Xi narrates economic globalization as naturally emerging from scientific and technological progress without noting the manner in which contemporary technological developments and globalization are both mediated by capitalism. The goal of harmony pervades ancient Chinese texts, but realizing such a goal requires identifying and transforming the structures that systematically undermine harmony between human beings and nature or between human beings and society.
