In this seminar Prof. David McCourt analyzes the recent shift towards tougher China policies in the US, Australia, and the UK, arguing it results from an alignment between interconnected "fields" of knowledge production and specific groups of influential "China Watchers" in Washington, Canberra, and London. He traces how these experts promoting strategic competition or security concerns gained prominence over proponents of engagement, raising questions about the trade-offs between this geopolitical stance, the common good, and domestic societal impacts.A video version of the seminar is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMiMDbm_vQ0The seminar took place over Zoom on 8 April 2025, and was hosted by Christopher Watkin (Monash University), as part of the project "Rewriting the Social Contract: Technology, Ecology, Extremism". This seminar is an initiative of the Social Contract Research Network. To be notified when future seminars, conversations and interviews are uploaded, you can subscribe to te SCRN YouTube channel by clicking on this link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq7geWYdmGE3kIcJrw8Ebsw?sub_confirmation=1

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

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