China and the Struggle for Legitimacy of a Rising Power

This article critically explores the historical transformation of the normative structure of international order brought about by legitimacy contests, and unpacks how power is deeply implicated in legitimacy claims amid the ongoing normative transformation of contemporary international society by virtue of the vanishing American unipolarity. By situating the analytical concept of legitimacy at the centre of this inquiry, it examines China’s attempts to win and command social acceptance of the legitimacy of its rising power as it confronts the challenges posed by the changing normative structure of contemporary international society. The struggle for legitimacy of a rising power, it argues, provides an alternative analytical framework within which to understand how rising Chinese power contests and is contested by the liberal global order dominated by the United States, a question that has fascinated and consumed many realist, liberal, and constructivist scholars. China’s engagement with the politics of legitimation is central to China’s peaceful rise. A careful examination of China’s struggle for legitimacy can yield insights into important systemic consequences of the transformation of the normative structure of international society.