“Just Hierarchy: Why Social Hierarchies Matter in China and the Rest of the World” by Daniel Bell and Wang Pei

This is a strange little book, which is at once a defense of hierarchy in social relations and an apologia for Chinese Communist Party dominance on the global stage. The authors begin, “In a purely descriptive sense, a hierarchy is a relation that is characterized by (a) difference and (b) ranking according to some attribute. Social hierarchies tend to have a normative dimension: They are social systems in which there is “an implicit or explicit rank of individuals or groups with respect to a valued social dimension.””

Bell and Pei first discuss hierarchies within the family. “The idea that there is hierarchy between elders and younger people is central to Chinese culture…. Throughout Chinese history, this idea was institutionalized by means of laws and informal norms that empowered the elderly in a variety of economic, social, and political ways…. Age-based hierarchies are rooted in the idea of filial piety. We ought to revere elderly members of the family, and then extend that reverence to elderly people as a whole.” This reverence for elders extends even into adulthood. “In China, the assumption is that parents continue to have some form of unequal authority over adult children and adult children are supposed to serve their elderly parents. They are not equals, even when both are adults.”

Next, the authors extol the benefits of a system of political meritocracy over democratically elected politicians. “From a normative perspective, the ideal of political meritocracy is most compelling at higher levels of government in large-scale political communities. The reason is that it is much more difficult to rule and manage huge and incredibly diverse countries such as China…. At higher levels of government of large countries, problems are complex and often impact many sectors of society, the rest of the world, and future generations. In large countries, political success is more likely with leaders who have political experience at lower levels of government and a good record of performance.” Lang Shuming expounds, “If we regard life as a process of moral improvement, rather than the satisfaction of ordinary desires… we would naturally choose the leadership of a minority and not decide by majority vote.”

Bell and Pei also describe hierarchy among nation-states. “Hierarchical relations between states must be reciprocal: They must benefit people in both powerful and weaker states. In other words, they must be “win-win.”” In the realm of state relations, there is a tension between power and responsibility. “With extra powers come extra responsibilities, and it’s not completely utopian to suggest that strong states do occasionally act on those responsibilities and should be held accountable if they fail to do so…. So with a combination of wealth, military might, and strategic reliability, a self-interested but honest hegemon can establish mutually beneficial interest-based relations with weaker states.” The authors conclude, “The web of caring obligations that binds family members is more demanding than that binding citizens, the web of obligations that bind citizens is more demanding than that binding foreigners, and the web binding humans is more demanding than that binding us to nonhuman forms of life.”