The Scholar-State Relationship and the Political Evolution of China and Taiwan

A critical review of existing historical analyses, plus close reading of primary texts (essays and letters), analyzing the precarious relationship between modern Chinese (or Taiwanese) scholars and their states. This project investigates how the precariousness of this scholar-state relationship may have influenced the political evolution of late Qing China, the Republic of China (ROC, first in the pre-Civil War era, then in Taiwan), and the People's Republic of China (PRC) under Deng Xiaoping.

Publications

The scholar-state relationship and the question of China’s modernization: Re-examining reform movement outcomes in the late Qing and early Republican periods

Eric D. de Roulet

2025

Transnational scholars, precarious reformers: The roles of semi-Westernized intellectuals in anti-authoritarian movements in modern China and Taiwan

Eric D. de Roulet

2025

(Panel presentation) Transnational scholars, precarious modernizers: The roles of semi-Westernized intellectuals in the political evolution of modern China and Taiwan

Eric D. de Roulet

Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, 5th World Conference of Taiwan Studies (WCTS), 2025 May

(Panel presentation) Transnational scholars, precarious modernizers: The roles of semi-Westernized intellectuals in the sociopolitical development of modern China

Eric D. de Roulet

University of Delaware (Newark campus), Mid-Atlantic Region Association for Asian Studies (MARAAS) Conference, 2024 Nov

(Panel presentation) The scholar-state relationship and the question of China’s modernization

Eric D. de Roulet

University of Exeter, Global China Research Centre (GCRC), 2023 Nov