Research on Han Nationalism in China in the 2020s (IV): Why Chinese Scholars Rarely Discuss Han Nationalism

This article is one of a series of papers examining Han nationalist ideology in China in the 2020s. It seeks to explore the phenomenon whereby discourse related to Han nationalism has increased in Chinese online space in recent years, yet has rarely been treated as an independent object of inquiry within China’s mainstream social-science research system. The article argues that this phenomenon does not simply stem from a lack of scholarly attention, but is related to the operating environment of Chinese social science. Analyzing academic tradition, research frameworks, academic norms, the functions of think tanks, and the situation of scholars, the article points out that Chinese social-science research has long been shaped by existing theoretical systems, modes of resource allocation, and traditions of policy research, making it relatively difficult for certain issues involving ethnic identity, historical memory, and identity competition to form independent research paths. The article further discusses the distance between theoretical systems and public discourse, and how this structure affects the explanatory capacity of Chinese social science with respect to social currents such as Han nationalism. The article does not attempt to provide statistical estimates of the scale or social support for Han nationalism in China; rather, it seeks to pose a question: when a social idea enters the space of public discussion, why does the existing academic system find it difficult to explain the phenomenon adequately?