SARS, Diasporic Tycoons, and Beijing Bastards: the Contingent Politics of Greater China.

This paper will use the example of Greater China to question the stability and legitimacy of the international norms of sovereignty and the nation-state. While most IR texts look to the high politics of diplomatic influence and military power, Greater China is interesting because, though it is seen by many as central to the international politics of the 21st century, it does not exist as a legal or an institutional body. The paper will use the examples of SARS, the Chinese diaspora, and the underclass of hooligans in urban China to highlight how Greater China is produced by transnational flows of economic and cultural capital. The paper will also expand the methodology and sources of East Asian IR analysis by using ethnographic approaches and films such as ‘Beijing Bastards’ and ‘A Confucian Confusion’ to chart out the contingent transnational flows of Greater China. The paper thus argues that Greater China presents challenges not only to economic and political order, but also to international relations theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]