Barry Sautman

Barry Sautman (or Barry Victor Sautman) (born in 1949) is a professor[1] with the Division of Social Science at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. A Canadian and American by nationality,[2] he speaks both English and Cantonese.[3][4]

A political scientist and lawyer by training who primarily teaches international law.[5] He has conducted research about ethnic politics and nationalism in China, as well as China–Africa relations,[6] in cooperation with anthropologist Yan Hairong[7] in the latter field. His positions on the Tibet issue are seen as close to those of China.

His opinions and comments as an expert on these subjects have been sought by national and international printed and online media.

Graduate education

The title of his Ph.D. thesis is Retreat from Revolution. Why Communist Systems Deradicalize.

Work experience

From 1983 to 1985, he was a law clerk and from 1985 to 1991, an attorney.[8]

From fall 1990 to spring 1991, he was an adjunct assistant professor at California State University, Northridge, teaching courses in US politics.[8]

In 1991-1992, he was a visiting assistant professor in comparative politics at the Johns Hopkins University-Nanjing University Center for Chinese and American Studies, in Nanjing, China. He taught courses in comparative politics; politics, law & society; political development; and US-China relations.[8]

From 1993 to 2000, he was an assistant professor in the Division of Social Science at Hong Kong University of Science & Technology, then from 2000 to 2008, an associate professor at the same university.

In 2002-2003, he was also a Visiting Fellow in the Department of East Asian Studies at Princeton University.

He taught undergraduate courses in international law; politics, law & society; China-US relations; political development; and comparative politics; and also graduate courses in nationalism, ethnicity, and US hegemony.[8]

Fields of research

His areas of research have been Communist and post-Communist systems; Chinese politics (especially ethnic politics); the political economic and legal aspects of the Tibet and Xinjiang issues; China-Africa links; the supposed strategic rivalry between the US and China in Africa; and international law (especially human rights).[8][9]

Expertise

His opinions and comments as an expert on these subjects have been sought by national and international printed and online media (CNN, USA TODAY, The New Yorker, The Manila Times, Digital Journal), the AFP press agency and various web sites.[10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]

He was interviewed by Radio France Internationale[18] and Voice of America News[19] and took part in the BBC Radio 4 program Today.[20]

Opinions

Australian sinologist Colin Mackerras, an emeritus professor at Griffith University, sees Barry Sautman as "probably the main contributor to Tibet studies in Hong Kong's universities, at least in English." His research focuses on contemporary Tibet and uses history to shed light on it. As a scholar, he is tremendously productive. Although he does not speak Tibetan and is not a specialist of Tibetan culture, he "balances this lack with profound understanding of world history and international law." He views law and political science as his main areas of expertise. His stand on Tibet-related issues is akin to that of China, whose historical and legal claims to Tibet he supports. As this is not a fashionable stand in Western countries, "he has become a controversial figure." On the other hand, "because he is so well-informed and his research is so thorough," he is often asked to put across pro-Chinese positions in venues dealing with Tibet.[2]

Criticism

On account of his refutation of the claim of a physical and cultural genocide in Tibet, his underlining of the various benefits, rights, and material gains Tibetans have reaped from the region's modernization, and his indictment of what he calls "ethnonationalism" on the part of exile Tibetans,[21] Barry Sautman has drawn criticism from writers supportive of an independent or free Tibet such as Jamyang Norbu[22] and Elliot Sperling.[23]

Publication list

Barry Sautman has published a number of articles and studies in peer-reviewed journals specializing in law: Hofstra Labor and Employment Law Journal, Pacific Rim Law & Policy Journal, Texas International Law Journal, Chinese Journal of International Law, Stanford Journal of International Law, Rutgers Race and Law Review; economic and social policies: Pacific Affairs, Problems of Post-Communism; history: Current History; international relations: World Affairs; Asia: The Journal of Asian Studies, The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus, and especially China Information, The China Quarterly, Modern China; Africa: African Studies Review, African and Asian Studies, South African Labour Bulletin.

He co-authored a number of articles with Irene Eng, Baogang He, Yan Hairong, Kenneth King, as well as monographs with Shiu-hing Lo, Ellen Kneehans. He co-edited a collective book with June Teufel Dreyer.

He has also contributed opinion articles to newspapers (the South China Morning Post (Hong Kong), The Guardian (UK)).[24]

Journal articles

Book chapters

Op-ed pieces

Editorship

Monographs

Other academic services

Lectures

In 2013, professor Sautman was the speaker at the Adelaide Confucius Institute's annual Public Lecture.[25]

Reviews of the author's contributions

References

  1. Electronic newsletter published online by the Office of the Executive Vice-President & Provost for the announcement of faculty substantiations and promotions, academic administrative appointments effective 1 July 2014, Fall Issue, 2014: "Promotion. The following faculty members have been promoted to Professor. School of Humanities and Social Science: Barry V SAUTMAN, SOSC - Michelle O Y YIK, SOSC."
  2. 1 2 Colin Mackerras, Tibet studies in Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore, in Asian Ethnicity, Vol. 12, Issue 3, 2011, Special Issue: Tibetan Studies in Comparative Perspective, pp. 265-283, downloadable from the website of the Griffith Asia Institute, Griffith University, Queensland, Australia, 37 p., see pp. 14-17.
  3. The author's background on the site of The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus: Barry Sautman is associate professor, Division of Social Science, Hong Kong University of Science and technology.
  4. On January 31, 2013, Professor Sautman was among the awardees at the fourth Long Service Award Presentation Ceremony honoring faculty and staff members who have served the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) for 20 years. See Long Service Award for Prof. Sautman.
  5. The author's background on the CHINA-AFRICA Knowledge Project site: "Barry Sautman is a political scientist (PhD Columbia University) and lawyer (JD UCLA, LLM NYU) who primarily teaches international law."
  6. The author's background on the site of The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus, op. cit.: "His research concerns ethnic politics and nationalism in China, as well as China–Africa relations."
  7. The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus, Vol 9, Issue 52, No 1, December 26, 2011: "Yan Hairong teaches in Hong Kong Polytechnic University. She is the author of New Masters, New Servants: Migration, Development and Women Workers in China (Duke University Press, 2008)."
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Curriculum Vitae (25 October 2008)
  9. The author's background on the CHINA-AFRICA Knowledge Project site.
  10. Prof. Barry V. Sautman, Political Scientist.
  11. David Finnan, Dozens of Chinese workers captured by Sudanese rebels, rfienglish, 30 January 2012.
  12. Zach Coleman, NSA leaker: I'll 'stay and fight' in Hong Kong, USA TODAY, June 13, 2013.
  13. Shannon Van Sant, China Establishing New Silk Roads, Voice of America, July 08, 2014.
  14. Sea dispute part of China’s larger plan, The Manila Times (AFP), May 10, 2014.
  15. Uighur scholar's life sentence in China will chill dissent: experts, 7 News (AFP), September 25, 2014.
  16. Evan Osnos, The Promised Land. Guangzhou's Canaan market and the rise of an African merchant class, The New Yorker, February 9, 2009 issue.
  17. Gabrielle Jaffe, Tinted prejudice in China , CNN, July 24, 2012.
  18. Interview of Barry Sautman about the capture of chinese workers by Sudanese rebels on RFI in English in January 2012.
  19. Rebecca Valli, Q&A: What is Driving Violent Attacks in China’s Xinjiang?, VOANews, May 02, 2014.
  20. Caitlin Fitzsimmons, Tibet complaint against Radio 4's Today upheld by BBC Trust, www.guardian.co.uk, May 29, 2009.
  21. Dina Duck, Tibet under Chinese Rule, Human Rights and Human Welfare, pp. 17-28, more specially p. 25.
  22. Jamyang Norbu, A Losar gift for rangzen activists, Phayul.com, February 26, 2009.
  23. Elliot Sperling, The History Boy, Rangzen Alliance, June 24, 2010.
  24. Barry Sautman's background and bibliography on the site of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
  25. Bethany Nolan, 2013 Annual Lecture: Does China Have Better Ethnic Policies than USA and India?, Confucius Institute News, 27 September 2013.

External links

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