Published as the proceedings from 'World in Transition, Imagination in Flux: Asian Circle of Thought 2012 Shanghai Summit' held at Power Station of Art, Shanghai, 12 to 19 October 2012.

'This week-long meeting is an attempt to initiate a platform for dialogues among leading intellectuals and thinkers in Asia. As the world is now in rapid transition, economically, politically and culturally, there is a sense of urgency to come together to analyse the present and imagine the future in regional terms.

'For the past two or three decades, different projects have been carried out to contribute to the (re)integration of Asia at the level of knowledge production. Projects like 'Inter-Asia Cultural Studies: Movements, East Asia Critical Journals Conference,' and the 'West Heavens' have been able to connect intellectual circles across different parts of Asia. We feel this is the moment to work together, with the Modern Asian Thought Project which is going to be launched by this forum, to create new forms and modes of knowledge for the future of global peace and a more humane world.

'"World in Transition, Imagination in Flux–Asian Circle of Thought 2012 Shanghai Summit" invites six eminent Asian thinkers from South Korea, Japanese mainland, Okinawa, Malaysia and India, to deliver speeches during Oct. 12 to Oct. 19 on the occasion of the 2012 Shanghai Biennale , and engage in discussions with 40 plus intellectuals from across Asia. We believe that from these conversations, there will emerge the intricate history and reality of Asia, and the great endeavor made by the Asian intelligentsias to comprehend and to intervene into them.' (from Shanghai Biennale)