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What are the conditions under which liberalism as “rational centrist reformism” fails to obtain its goals without succumbing to the forces of radicalization — that is, by descending into revolutionary or reactionary extremes? Professor Ding compares two extreme paths out of liberalizing reforms that took place in late-Qing China and 19th-century Germany (Prussia). Despite their under-appreciated similarities, the failure of reforms in Qing and Prussia unfolded in dramatically different ways: popular revolution and regime overthrow in China in 1911, and reactionary victory in Germany in the late 19th century. Why?

Iza Ding is an Assistant Professor in Political Science at the University of Pittsburgh. Her research interests include environmental politics, Chinese politics, and political regimes. Her book "The Performative State: Public Opinion, Political Pageantry, and Environmental Governance in China" is under contract at Cornell University Press. During the 2019-2020 academic year, she is a Visiting Assistant Professor in Political Science at the University of Michigan and a Visiting Associate at the Weiser Center for Emerging Democracies, where she is working on a second book manuscript on political memory.

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