Chinese Capitalism (historical)

CHINESE CAPITALISMS IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

EXAMS:

March 31st: book review → need to read 2 books on the same subjects
3000-3500 words
Show how they interact or not. What are the different methodology
Avoid speaking of the first book and then the second book.
Send in Word format to the TA’s Urkund address and to his normal address
40%
Read Brief introduction on China (download the online version from the library)
A sociology of Modern China by Jean-Louis Rocca

+ Final exam at the end: A 2-hour written exam. Answer 4 questions
60%

Why Chinese CapitalismS?
Because Chinese capitalism became a polysemic and blurred notion:

• At the origin, the notion refers to (supposed to be) very specific form of economy, taking place among Chinese diasporas: community economy
• But since the 1980s development of countries inhibited by “Chinese people”
  - Taiwan
  - Singapore, Hong Kong
  - Extension to “Confucian countries” like Japan

1. Course objectives

In the 1990s People’s Republic of China joined the world of capitalism:

• Second Economy
• Largest trading economy since 2013
• Main driving force of world consumption
• FDI in China ($813 billion 2016, largest FDI recipient)
• Increase in China overseas investment ($145 billion in 2015, second investor)
• PRC plays a prominent role in this capitalist world (Chinese colonization of Africa??)

In the meantime, Chinese diasporas (huaren) continues to develop everywhere in the world, including in Europe.

Many problems have arisen:

• Definition of Huaren (Chinese person or people)
• Huge differences in terms of historical process
• The PRC at the core of the Chinese capitalismS

A second reason to study Chinese CapitalismS:

• For many people China is not a capitalist country yet, it is not even a “market economy” because the State is playing a too important role in capitalism
• But this capitalist country which is not capilist is a leading force in the process of development of world capitalism

This controversy should lead researchers to question the notion of “capitalism” (market?) but very few attempts

• China: post Leninist capitalism, state capitalism, authoritarian rule system?

Two key questions:

• Is capitalism a unique phenomenon? In that case what definition? Can we reduce capitalism to the existence of an invisible hand?
• Is capitalism exclusively an economic phenomenon. Can we also talk about “capitalist politics”, “capitalist societies”?

1) Why did the industrial revolution take part in Europe and not elsewhere, in China?

Avoiding Eurocentrism
Comparing England to the lower Yangzi Region

Euro centrism can be avoided: non-sense to compare Mainland China and Europe
Fuxian is the same size as England
In the 18th century, we could compare England and the Netherlands to the richest region in China

BIG difference between Shanghai (modern China) and the rest of China. China is so big that it is non-sense to compare it to another country. We should be careful about what region we are talking about.

The lower Yongse Region in China: technology was behind the UK one, but it was ahead of England for the Land management rights.

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