On Caffe Lattes, Nationalism and Legitimate Critique: A Reply to Gries,Zhang, Crowson and Cai

摘要

I confess. Twice a day I need several shots of caffeine, usually administered through the beverage we call coffee. I also confess to an occasional splurging on a latte. People who see me during the day might even catch me with coffee in my hand. But it has only been recently that I've noticed that my scholarly identity has become subsumed by the drink. The occasion for this rather odd turn of events has been recent publications of Peter Gries, who, either by himself or with his co-authors, has criticized my scepticism of rising nationalism in China in my book Embattled Glory: Veterans, Military Families and the Politics of Patriotism in China, 1949-2007 (Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield, 2009).