Jottings from the Granite Studio

With Richard TPD’s internet still not quite up to speed, I’ve been posting a bit over at The Peking Duck. For those interested, there are four articles up now from yours truly:

“How Now Mao?” looks at Ross Terrill’s recent article in the Wilson Quarterly on all things Mao. Terrill’s article explores the relationship between today’s Chinese and the state and how different definitions of ‘freedom’ (including the evolution of Mao’s own ideas) can lead to different perspectives on the direction of Chinese society.

“Dictatorship a phase in democratic development?” asks whether or not dictatorship is an inevitable development in the transition from monarchy to democracy and what does this mean for looking at China’s own development in the 20th and 21st centuries.

There is also a post based on a series of must-read articles from the invaluable China Dialogue website: “‘A Decade off our Lives’: Notes from the frontline of China’s environmental catastrophe.”

Finally, a reaction to piece in Sunday’s LA Times with the provocative title “Was 9/11 really that bad” in which the author shares some interesting theories on the relationship between our current attitudes towards war and the 18th century Enlightement.

I’ll be posting here this week as well so keep checking back. Also, as some have noticed, I had to turn on the “comments moderation” feature after a wee spam attack last week. Hopefully the spammers will go away and I’ll be able to reset the comments to post immediately. Thanks for your patience.