Abstract:

There has been increasing interest in the idea of a Chinese ‘model’ even before the onset of the global crisis – both from those who see it as a positive alternative economic agenda and those who fear its impact on the global liberal order. However, with the crisis highlighting, and arguably accelerating, shifting balances of global power, the focus on China as providing an alternative to the Washington Consensus has intensified. Yet, it is not at all clear if it we can identify what this ‘Chinese model’ actually is, let alone if it is a model that others can emulate.

Rather than focusing on what the model is, this seminar will focus on what the model is not; it is not about a rapid big bang transition to the market, it is not about complete liberalisation and it is not about following prescriptions laid down by the dominant powers or international financial institutions. In truth, a number of economies have developed along similar basic principles. Indeed, perhaps we can think of China as representing a ‘Neolistian developmental state with Chinese characteristics’! Nevertheless, a process of establishing China’s difference – perhaps China’s exceptionalism – seems to be underway which in part entails a strategy of ‘Occidentalism’: constructing an idea of what the West is and stands for to show how China is a very different kind of global actor.