State-of-the-Field Essay: Contemporary Confucian Political Theory: Its Origin, Evolution, and Challenges

Can contemporary Confucian political theory contribute to both a culturally relevant and politically practicable public philosophy for East Asian societies, while simultaneously providing a model of comparative political theory that aspires to deprovincialize the West? This state-of-the-field essay examines how contemporary Confucian political theory has evolved in the past two decades in Anglophone academia, what challenges are posed to its further development, and how they could be addressed to anticipate a new epoch of modern political Confucianism in which Confucian political theory becomes more engaged and grounded as a public philosophy that can also inspire Western political theory for mutual learning and growth. After critically examining various contemporary Confucian political theories—Confucian communitarianism, Confucian democracy, Confucian meritocracy, Confucian perfectionism, progressive Confucianism, and public-reason Confucianism—and their liberal challenges, this essay diagnoses the current crisis of Confucian political theory and shows a way to overcome it.