"Xi Jinping And Ideology" By CWP Alum Joseph Torigian
Is Xi Jinping an ideological person? Not taking ideology seriously in China would be a mistake, but sweeping statements about ideology’s decisive influence can obscure more than they illuminate. Treating the content of ideology as a variable that explains everything fails to appropriately account for politics and contingency. Linking ideology to specific actions faces serious methodological challenges, and outside observers have often gotten the role of ideology wrong in Leninist states. The life of Xi Jinping’s own father Xi Zhongxun suggests the difficulty of placing Chinese leaders clearly on an ideological spectrum. In his own remarks on ideology, Xi Jinping has displayed two consistent “shticks” that might seem contradictory to outside observers: a distaste for radicalism and dogmatism and a preoccupation with conviction, values, and dedication.
https://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/media/uploads/documents/Torigian_Xi%20Jinping%20and%20Ideology.pdf
Joseph Torigian is an Assistant Professor at the School of International Service at American University and a 2021–22 Wilson China Fellow
