The attempt to think through and with China proved to be fittingly quixotic. It turned into a much bigger undertaking than initially anticipated, taking about a month and resulting in more than 12,000 words. In the process of researching and writing, I became more convinced of the claim I made: China is too important to be left to the specialists.

A month after returning from China, this series finally reaches its conclusion. Thanks for your patience. Previous notes: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven. The aim of this series has been ‘to orient’ our thinking through and with China, and by doing so, trying to move beyond binary frames that view the country as threat, as enemy, as other.

Moving from climate and consumption to polycrisis. Apologies, it is a long one. This note has been informed by discussions with colleagues from the Accelerator for Systemic Risk Assessment (ASRA), my thanks to them. Previous notes: one, two, three, four, five, six. Reckoning with ‘the trap the world has become’, attempting to orientate thought, doing so by thinking through and with China.

Staying with China as a ‘manufacturing superpower’, thinking through what it means for energy and consumption. A few more to go, thanks for your patience. Previous notes in the series: one, two, three, four, five. Two images from my recent trip that capture the contradictions and complexities of the contemporary in China: Sitting in traffic in rural Sichuan.

Zooming in and zooming out, continuing to think through and with China. This note moves to the macro, considering consumption and production, and the offer of an international order based on ordering. More charts and less literary references ahead. Previous notes in the series: one, two, three, four. In terms of our troubles with comprehending the contemporary, one of the big challenges is the combination of speed and scale.

The intent of this series is thinking through and with China, meant in an essayistic sense. As such, it is not just about the country, but also the observations emerging from the experience of being there.

This note continues the ‘to orient’ series, prompted by a recent visit to China. The plan is for this ‘batch’ to be published relatively quickly, and with that done, return to a slower publication schedule.

The aim of this series is thinking through and thinking with China. One of the references for ‘to orient’ is Edward Said, and while these notes likely fail to meet his exacting standards, hopefully the intent and core ideas might. The aim - the need - is to recognise and reckon with China, in all its complexity and detail.

Faced with contagion, confrontation, conflict, how to avoid disorientation? And if that can be managed, how can we actively and positively orientate ourselves? A starting assumption here is that there are better and worse ways to orientate, and we should aim for better ones.

The political and financial might of the United States, combined with the centrality of its tech platforms and English as the lingua franca, ensures voices from that one country tend to occupy an outsized role in discourse and thinking. Certainly, what happens there is deeply consequential for the world, and so it is important, it does matter.

A new missive has appeared from the ever-prolific , this time about Antonio Gramsci’s much quoted ‘interregnum’:ChartbookChartbook 298 Built not Born - against "interregnum"-talk (Hegemony Notes #2) "The crisis consists precisely in the fact that the old is dying and the new cannot be born;