Departures with Robert Amsterdam

The more a Canadian academic learned about China, the less the West wanted to hear


Listen Later

As 2023 draws to a close, it has become increasingly clear that there are profound misunderstandings and misapprehensions running amok in Western media narratives regarding the pecularities of the current state in China. That's precisely why there should be a high level of interest in a book of personal experience, nuanced narrative, and thoughtful observation from a Canadian academic who for a time played a unique role within China's state bureaucracy.

In 2017, Daniel A. Bell was appointed dean of the School of Political Science and Public Administration at Shandong University—the first foreign dean of a political science faculty in China’s history. The story of his time in this position is enormously illuminating, highlighting both the immense challenges and also the occasional positives, and told with a certain level of humor and empathy often missing from accounts of politically sensitive jobs in the era of Xi Jinping.

His book, "The Dean of Shandong: Confessions of a Minor Bureaucrat at a Chinese University," is a riotously fun, informative, and eye-opening tour through modern Chinese academia. In his interview with Robert Amsterdam, Bell recounts how if some of his more "constructive" takes on events in China were found to be inconsistent with the predominant narrative, he encountered isolation from Westerners who preferred their current understanding.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Departures with Robert AmsterdamBy Amsterdam & Partners LLP

  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7

4.7

34 ratings


More shows like Departures with Robert Amsterdam

View all
Global News Podcast by BBC World Service

Global News Podcast

7,894 Listeners

The Political Scene | The New Yorker by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

The Political Scene | The New Yorker

3,936 Listeners

Page 94: The Private Eye Podcast by Page 94: The Private Eye Podcast

Page 94: The Private Eye Podcast

292 Listeners

Political Fix by Financial Times

Political Fix

150 Listeners

ChinaPower by CSIS | Center for Strategic and International Studies

ChinaPower

202 Listeners

The Daily by The New York Times

The Daily

111,785 Listeners

EU Confidential by POLITICO

EU Confidential

101 Listeners

The Intelligence from The Economist by The Economist

The Intelligence from The Economist

2,540 Listeners

Blocked and Reported by Katie Herzog and Jesse Singal

Blocked and Reported

3,759 Listeners

In Moscow's Shadows by Mark Galeotti

In Moscow's Shadows

361 Listeners

The Rest Is History by Goalhanger

The Rest Is History

12,918 Listeners

Africa Daily by BBC World Service

Africa Daily

173 Listeners

The Ezra Klein Show by New York Times Opinion

The Ezra Klein Show

15,237 Listeners

One Decision by Situation Room Studios

One Decision

80 Listeners

Geopolitics Decanted by Silverado by Silverado Policy Accelerator

Geopolitics Decanted by Silverado

152 Listeners