Daniel A. Bell

Daniel A. Bell (Chinese name: 贝淡宁; born May 1964, Montreal) is a prolific and controversial^[1] political theorist who has been teaching at Tsinghua University in Beijing since 2004. He is now Chair Professor of the Schwarzman Scholars Program at Tsinghua and director of the Berggruen Institute of Philosophy and Culture.^[2] He has put forward his views in favor of China’s political meritocracy and against one person one vote as a mode of selection for political leaders in two books^[3] and in comments published in the New York Times,^[4] the Financial Times,^[5] the Global Times (环球时报),^[6] and in regular columns published in the Huffington Post,^[7] in Project Syndicate,^[8] in the Guardian,^[9] as well as the Chinese language periodical Nanfengchuang (南风窗，English:South Reviews)^[10] and a Chinese language blog site on Caijing (‘财经’).^[11]

He was educated at McGill University and Oxford University, has taught in Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai, and has held research fellowships at Princeton’s University Center for Human Values and Stanford’s Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences.^[12]

Works

Bell is the author of books including:

• The China Model: Political Meritocracy and the Limits of Democracy, Princeton University Press, 2015. ISBN 9781400865505.
• The Spirit of Cities: Why the Identity of a City Matters in a Global Age [co-authored with Avner de-Shalit], Princeton University Press, 2011. ISBN 9780691151441.
• China’s New Confucianism: Politics and Everyday Life in a Changing Society, Princeton University Press, 2010. ISBN 9781400834822.
• Beyond Liberal Democracy: Political Thinking for an East Asian Context, Princeton University Press, 2006. ISBN 9781400827466.
• East Meets West: Human Rights and Democracy in East Asia, Princeton University Press, 2000. ISBN 9781400823550.
• Towards Liberal Democracy in Pacific Asia [co-authored with David Brown, Kanishka Jayasuriya, and David Martin Jones], Palgrave Macmillan, 1995. ISBN 9780333613993.
• Communitarianism and Its Critics, Oxford University Press, 1993. ISBN 9780198279228.

He is the series editor of a translation series by Princeton University Press that aims to translate the original works of Chinese scholars:

• Joseph Chan’s Confucian Perfectionism: A Political Philosophy for Modern Times, Princeton University Press, 2013. ISBN 9780691158617.
• Jiang Qing’s A Confucian Constitutional Order: How China's Ancient Past Can Shape Its Political Future [co-edited with Ruiping Fan, Translated by Edmund Ryden], Princeton University Press, 2012. ISBN 9780691154602.
• Yan Xuetong’s Ancient Chinese Thought, Modern Chinese Power [co-edited with Sun Zhe, Translated by Edmund Ryden], Princeton University Press, 2011. ISBN 9780691148267.

He is also the editor of Confucian Political Ethics (Princeton University Press) and the co-editor of six books:

• The East Asian Challenge for Democracy: Political Meritocracy in Comparative Perspective [co-edited with Chenyang Li], Cambridge University Press, 2013. ISBN 9781107623774.
• Confucian Political Ethics, Princeton University Press, 2007. ISBN 9781400828661.
• Ethics in Action: The Ethical Challenges of International Human Rights Nongovernmental Organizations [co-edited with Jean-Marc Coicaud], Cambridge University Press, 2006. ISBN 9780521684491.
• The Politics of Affective Relations: East Asia and Beyond (Global Encounters: Studies in Comparative Political Theory series) [co-edited with Hahm Chiahark], Lexington Books, 2004. ISBN 9780739107997.
• Confucianism for the Modern World [co-edited with Hahm Chaibong], Cambridge University Press, 2003.ISBN 9780521527880.
• Forms of Justice: Critical Perspectives on David Miller's Political Philosophy [co-edited with Avner de-Shalit], Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2002. ISBN 9780742521797.
• The East Asian Challenge for Human Rights [co-edited with Joanne R. Bauer], Cambridge University Press, 1999. ISBN 9780521645362.

References

1. Political Theory: Daniel A. Bell: “I don’t believe that democracy is the best way.”,The East-West Dichotomy, 2013-4-8; See also Mark Mackinnon,Meet the Canadian prof making waves for praising China as a meritocracy,The Globe and Mail, 2012-11-24; Michael Mazza,A Look at China’s ‘Political Meritocracy’, The American, 2012-8-7; Embarrassed meritocrats: Westerners who laud a Chinese meritocracy continue to miss the point, The Economist, 2012-10-27;Beyond Liberal Democracy: A Debate on Democracy and Confucian Meritocracy, Philosophy East and West,Volume 59, Number 4, October 2009; Richard Burger,The unintended consequence of the “China-as-meritocracy”debates, 2012-11-15;James Griffiths,Democracy is not a perfect system, but the Chinese meritocracy is pure fantasy, 2012-11-26; Christopher A. Ford,A State of Moral Confucian, New Paradigms Forum, 2013-7-12;Daniel Bell on Meritocracy，Warp, Weft, and Way: Chinese and Comparative Philosophy,2012-7-26; Olivia Boyd, A rise in Confucianism will make China's leaders more eco-conscious, 2012-11-8; Sam Crane,The Chinese Political System is not a Meritocracy,The Useless Tree: Ancient Chinese Thought in Modern American Life,2012-7-25; 鞠靖、方芳,洋教授贝淡宁的中国观：“需要民主，也需要‘贤能政治’”，南方周末，2013-01-19; Daniel A. Bell and Michael Walzer,Debating Democracy Promotion in China, Dissent, 2008-8-11; 从贤能政治看中国政治话语表达，新华网，2014-2-26
2. Website of Berggruen Institute of Philosophy and Culture
3. The China Model: Political Meritocracy and the Limits of Democracy;The East Asian Challenge for Democracy: Political Meritocracy in Comparative Perspective
4. Daniel A. Bell, "Teaching ‘Western Values’ in China", 2015-4-16；Jiang Qing and Daniel A. Bell, "A Confucian Constitution for China", 2012-7-10；Daniel A. Bell, "Moving Eastward", 2011-2-16;Daniel A. Bell, "Developping China's Soft Power, 2010-9-23;Daniel A. Bell, "The Confucian Party, 2009-5-11
5. Daniel A. Bell, "In defence of how China picks its leader";Daniel A. Bell, "Real meaning of the rot at the top of China"
6. 贝淡宁:"当代贤能政治是中国的大进步", 环球时报,2013-01-29
7. Daniel A. Bell's articles in Huffington Post
8. Daniel A. Bell's articles in Project Syndicate
9. Daniel A. Bell's articles in The Guardian
10. 贝淡宁：“另一种精英治国”，南风窗，2013-10-28;贝淡宁：“中国应该追求更好的制度”，南风窗，2011-12-07.
11. 贝淡宁的博客，Caijingwang (财经网)
12. Daniel A. Bell's website on WordPress

See also

• Princeton-China series
• Berggruen Institute of Philosophy and Culture
• [Video] Daniel A. Bell on a Vertical Model political system
• Dialogue with Wang Hui about The Spirit of Cities (in Chinese)
• Emilie Frenkiel, Confucianism: Departing from the Liberal Framework, an Interview with Daniel A. Bell’, Books & Ideas, 10 September 2012. ISSN 2114-074X.
• [Video] Talk on ‘Political Legitimacy in China' at the University of Sydney.
• [Video] Talk on Confucian values and Cities in Australia.
• [Video] Talk at Duke University: ‘Reviving Tradition in China: Toward a Progressive and Humane Confucian Ethics?’
• [Video and audio] Talk at the Wilson Center on The Spirit of Cities: ‘The Spirit of Cities: Why the Identity of a City Matters in a Global Age’
• [Video] Lecture in Shanghai: ‘On the Ethical and Political Significance of City-based Identities’
• [Video] Talk with Edie Lush at Hub Davos on the spirit of cities.
• [Video] Talk in The Agenda with Steve Paikin: ‘Exporting Democracy Eastward’
• [Video] Speech in Human Rights and the Humanities Conference, March 22, 2013: ‘Is Democracy A Human Right?’
• [Video] Talk on ‘Confucianism Was Adopted to Legitimize Government’