Neglected Chinese Origins of East Asian Developmentalism

Helleiner, Eric

doi:10.1080/13563467.2021.1961217

Cited by 7 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 30 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…After the failed development outcomes of the Washington Consensus, utilizing the state not only in the neoliberal mode as an enforcer of private competition but as a weapon to gain competitiveness is experiencing a revival in poor and middle-income countries. These efforts are often inspired by the successes of the so-called East Asian development model-which can in turn be traced back to the 19th century responses to imperialism not only in Japan but also in China (Helleiner, 2021b).…”

Section: State Capitalism and Imperialismmentioning

confidence: 99%

State capitalism, imperialism and China: Bringing history back in

Weber

2023

Environ Plan A

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

State capitalism is experiencing a revival as a term to capture the current capitalist constellations and departures from neoliberalism. Unlike, neoliberalism, however, the term state capitalism has a long history reaching back to the age of imperialism in the late 19th century. Although state capitalism has been used as a prerogative term by Marxists, liberals, and neoliberals alike, it has served as a programmatic label for developmentalist and neomercantilist projects in reaction to imperialism in the periphery. This paper argues that we need to bring the intellectual history of state capitalism into the ‘new state capitalism’ debate. China has played a major role in the revival of state capitalism in the social sciences, but the long history of China's engagement with state capitalism as a concept and program dating back to the late Qing reformers has been overlooked for the most part. State capitalism is by no means new to China, from Liang Qichao, Sun Yatsen, and Mao Zedong to Deng Xiaoping, the idea that China had to create a modern nation-state and industrial capitalism in the name of economic progress and to get ahead in the global competition is a recurring theme. What is new is that for the first time, the ambition to use state capitalism as a means to catch up with the West is bearing fruits in ways that could undermine the predominance of Western economies.

show abstract

Section: State Capitalism and Imperialismmentioning

confidence: 99%

State capitalism, imperialism and China: Bringing history back in

Weber

2023

Environ Plan A

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Numerous additional mechanisms have been identified in the adaptation literature: Ban (2016) showed how neoliberalism is 'translated, ' Lai et al (2017) introduced the concept of 'grafting' with partial diffusion resulting from the contestation of ideas, Röper (2021) distinguished between the 'symbolic and substantive functions of ideas, ' Berge and St John (2021) identified 'asymmetric diffusion, ' Bell and Feng (2019) showed how local agency leads to 'selective diffusion, ' Thomassen (2017) explored an ideational approach to 'translation strategies, ' and Béland et al (2018) (Helleiner, 2021;. Recent literature has shown how small developing countries can 'punch above their weight' using professional networks to promote their interests (Hearson et al, 2022).…”

Section: Origination and Diffusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

China and the Political Economy of the Green State

Larsen

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The climate crisis requires a radical transformation of our economies. Current and past minimal-state and market-based approaches have failed to deliver adequate progress. From that, a consensus is emerging: An interventionist state with green ambitions is needed to steer a green transition. Such a ‘green state’ is an approach that any country, in principle, can take irrespective of national political and economic conditions. Debate has been prolific on how this green state can be operationalized: What are the political prerequisites? What are the challenges standing in the way? Which policy tools can be used? Problematically, while the climate crisis is global, this debate has centered on the global North. I use state capacity and historical institutionalism to investigate what China tells us about green state theory. Through state capacity, I consider environmental sustainability as the latest iteration of a goal that requires a capable state. Through historical institutionalism, I emphasize the role of differing national conditions within informal and formal institutions across political, economic, social, and historical aspects. From that theoretical outset, the thesis is focused on the conditions under which states have capacity as green states in terms of ability to intervene in the economy and uphold green priorities. My intention in this PhD project is to contribute towards the realization of green states. I share the normative goal of a green state and hope to contribute to developing theory that can be used in the pursuit of green states. Informed by the case of China, I analyze how China’s political economy conditions determine its green state capacity and scrutinize whether current green state theory can account for this. I do so by answering the following research question: What does China tell us about green state theory? I apply an explorative research strategy, relying on extensive fieldwork to investigate and theorize on the green state’s intended universal applicability. I use a case-based research design considering China a critical case as it may be the country in the world most resembling a green state. Primary data were collected through 132 semi-structured interviews along with participant observations across China, Vietnam, India, Ethiopia, and Brazil. Secondary data includes policy documents and financial databases. All data were collected in both English and Chinese to expand the scope, address biases, and triangulate potentially contradicting sources. Answering my research question, I find that China’s case tells us the following: Green states can exist under a greater variety of political economy conditions than the theory currently assumes. This conclusion is based on three parts: First, China has a high capacity as a green state through its authoritarian politics, state-driven economic model, and party-state interventions, while this capacity remains challenged by intra-state resistance and from squeezing out the private sector. These conditions and challenges contradict current assumptions in green state theory. Second, from that finding, I argue that a plurality of green states can exist across the world. I conclude that green state theory does not provide a blueprint that fits all countries, but that a green state approach can be adopted differently depending on a given country’s unique political economy conditions. Third, I find that green state theory would benefit from drawing on comparative political economy and historical intuitionalism to better capture the relation between varying political economy conditions and green state practices. Concretely, I make the following findings in each of the five papers of this thesis: Paper 1 conceptually discusses key dimensions of the current green state, concluding that conditions for green state capacity exist beyond democratic and developed countries. Paper 2 analyzes China’s application of a green state approach, concluding that China’s green state capacity is threatened by its authoritarian politics, resistance from local government and SOEs, and from squeezing out the private sector. Paper 3 explores the connection between financialization and the green state, concluding that financialization of governance in China provides the conditions for the state to be capable of green investing. Paper 4 assesses the global ramifications of China’s green state approach, concluding that China’s impact includes both the provision of price-competitive green technologies and the reinforcement of a de-risking international finance approach. Paper 5 investigates how China influences other countries’ green finance practices, concluding that due to China’s political economy model, successful lessons diffuse into global policy norms. Looking forward, as China is not representative of the global South’s diversity of political economy conditions, the findings of this thesis open an avenue for development of a comparative political economy of the green state. Ultimately, green state theory should account for the relationship between political economy conditions and state capacity to carry out green transition – both in the global North and South. This thesis provides an important step toward developing a research agenda in pursuit of that goal.

show abstract

The Geoeconomics of Chinese Bank Expansion into the European Union

Balmas

Dörry

2022

The Political Economy of Geoeconomics: Europe in a Changing World

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We apply the concept of geoeconomics to the example of Chinese state-owned commercial banks based in Luxembourg and their financial activities in the European Union. The case study links the uneven relationship between China and Luxembourg to the field of international finance via large Chinese state-owned banks as important but analytically neglected actors. In doing so, we analyze how economic resources are used by, through and between nation states in the pursuit of their strategic goals. Starting from the observation that Chinese banking networks primarily provide a platform for the implementation of direct investments by Chinese companies, we identify important mechanisms and practices of Chinese banks, their anchoring in Luxembourg and the limited fulfilment of Western policy makers’ expectations from the presence of the Chinese banks in Luxembourg. Furthermore, we analyze instruments and strategies that define important aspects and dimensions of the concept of geoeconomics and complement them with the agency attributed to Chinese banks. An interesting paradox emerges from our analysis: while the geoeconomic power of Chinese banks’ activities is limited by the strict adherence to Chinese state development guidelines, the new organization of the Chinese banking networks in the EU suggests that they will be able to exercise their geoeconomic power in the future; with corresponding implications for local economies and economic development in Europe.

show abstract

Neglected Chinese Origins of East Asian Developmentalism

Cited by 7 publications

References 30 publications

State capitalism, imperialism and China: Bringing history back in

State capitalism, imperialism and China: Bringing history back in

China and the Political Economy of the Green State

The Geoeconomics of Chinese Bank Expansion into the European Union

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About