Challenging realpolitik : Chinese and Western conceptions of justice and World order
Title: Challenging realpolitik : Chinese and Western conceptions of justice and World order
Guest: Emeritus Professor of International Political Theory in the Department of War Studies, King's College London)
Abstract: Challenging the paradigms that frame international relations primarily in terms of competition and power, this session builds on Richard Ned Lebow's work to inquire into how differing global narratives can be rooted in shared moral principles. In Justice and International Order - East and West (Oxford University Press, 2022), written in collaboration with Feng Zhang (Associate Research Scholar in East Asian Studies, MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies at Yale), the authors demonstrate how Chinese and Western conceptions of justice are more alike and co-constructed than usually depicted. Drawing on these shared normative foundations, the book analyzes their diverging political and institutional expressions and broadens the argument to consider how they might contribute to a more inclusive vision of World order. By examining both convergences and persistent tensions between Chinese and Western conceptions of justice, it considers the prospects for what might be termed dialogical multilateralism: an approach that recognizes common ethical ground while remaining attentive to actual differences in articulation, application, and the strategies they nourish.
Date, time: February 9, 2026, 3:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.
Location, room: Maison de la recherche de l'Inalco (2 rue de Lille, 75007 Paris), room : de Sacy
Format: hybrid (Zoom link sent the day before)
Coordination of the Universalisms and Global Governance Theme (WP3):
Delphine Allès (INALCO), Jean-Vincent Holeindre (Paris Panthéon Assas), Frédéric Ramel (Sciences Po). Avec Louise Beaumais, postdoctorante du programme DECRIPT.
Registration for the seminar is open until February 8 at 4:00 p.m. (Paris time):