In the AREA Ruhr Book Talk Series, experts from AREA Ruhr are looking forward to meeting up with authors of newly released academic books that deal with East Asia from a wide variety of disciplinary perspectives. At AREA Ruhr, we are curious about getting insights into recently published research results and discussing the “research journey” that authors have been engaged in.
All events are conducted online via Zoom and are open to be joined after registration. Following the exchange between the invited author and an AREA host, the audience is encouraged to join the discussion.
The ninth episode of the AREA Ruhr Book Talk Series will be conducted in July 2026. Please note that this AREA Ruhr Book Talk is conducted in German and in a hybrid format. You may find further information on the event below.
1 Jul 2026, 4–6 PM CEST
“China neu denken – Wie sich ein Land verändert und unser Jahrhundert prägt (“Rethinking China – how a country changes, shaping our century”)”
by Thomas Herberer (IN-EAST, University of Duisburg-Essen)
Host: Axel Klein (AREA Ruhr)
Location: AREA Ruhr @ University of Duisburg-Essen Campus, Geibelstr. 41, room: SG 183 (map)
Further information & registration
About the author
Prof. Dr. Thomas Heberer, professor emeritus but still active as an “associate” at the Institute for East Asian Studies in Duisburg, is an ethnologist and political scientist. He is one of the leading German and European scholars of China.
He has been studying China for over 50 years. He first visited China in 1975 as part of his dissertation research. From 1977 to 1981, he worked as a translator and editor at a Chinese publishing house in Beijing and witnessed firsthand the beginning of the reform and opening-up process. Since then, he has spent several months each year conducting field research on various topics and in diverse regions of China. After a hiatus due to the pandemic, he began traveling again in 2023 for extended periods of research in various regions of China. For many years, as a member of the European-China Academic Network, he advised the European Parliament on China policy. Among other things, he accompanied Federal President Gauck and Minister Presidents Rau and Rüttgers to China in an advisory capacity. He is the author or editor of over 60 books on a wide range of domestic and foreign policy topics, as well as hundreds of scholarly articles on China. His most recent book publications include Weapons of the Rich. Strategic Action of Private Entrepreneurs in Contemporary China (2020, with G. Schubert); Social Disciplining and Civilizing Processes in China. The Politics of Morality and the Morality of Politics (2023), The Political Systems of East Asia: An Introduction (2023, with C. Derichs and G. Schubert, eds.), Xinjiang – A Region at the Crossroads of History and Modernity: Contributions to a Debate (2026, with G. Gesk, M. Schädler, H. Schmidt-Glintzer, and N. Paech, eds.), Transformation Processes in China – China in Transformation (2026, with M. Brie and M. Leutner, eds.) or Rethinking China: How a Country Is Changing and Shaping Our Century (2026, in German).
About the Book (in German)
China-Bücher drehen sich in den letzten Jahren überwiegend um geopolitische Fragen. Innenpolitisch stehen Fragen der Wirtschaftsentwicklung im Vordergrund. Wenige beschäftigen sich mit der inneren Verfasstheit des Landes und seiner politischen Kultur. Um China und sein Verhalten besser zu verstehen, müssen wir uns aber gerade mit diesen Themen verstärkt auseinandersetzen. Daher: China neu denken.
Nach einer Einschätzung der Gründe für das negative Image des Landes befasst sich Thomas Heberer mit der Frage, wie und in welcher Form es Ende der 1970er Jahre zu dem Reformprozess gekommen ist, der die Grundlage der Erfolgsgeschichte Chinas in den letzten vier Jahrzehnten gelegt hat. Dies erfolgt weitgehend durch die Darstellung persönlicher Erfahrungen und Erlebnisse in den 1970er und frühen 1980er Jahren im Rahmen seiner Tätigkeit als Lektor und Übersetzer in einem chinesischen Verlag in Peking. Um das China von heute besser verstehen zu können, bearbeitet der Autor vier grundlegende Themenfelder: das Bewusstsein von Geschichte im Denken der Menschen; Weltbilder und religiöse Praktiken; das Verhältnis von Staat und Gesellschaft sowie privates Unternehmertum. Eigene Feldforschung seit 1981 und bis 2025 sowie Begegnungen in China bis in die Gegenwart tragen zur Konkretisierung allgemeiner Aussagen bei.
Zuletzt werden aktuelle geopolitische Fragen beleuchtet sowie eine Vorausschau auf die Zukunft gewagt.
Please join the Book Talk via Zoom through the following link (no prior registration required):
https://uni-due.zoom-x.de/j/65418819843?pwd=jiwgbbEAwKPqSAHhYxWElaupdfTlBN.1