The Case of China and the Study of Comparative Capitalisms

Can China’s political economy serve to inform theoretical debates in Comparative Capitalisms (CC)? This paper argues that the case of China is highly salient, not just because of its sheer size and international economic influence, but also because the Chinese political economy can provide fertile ground to theorize about features of capitalist evolution and change that have posed challenges to the study of CC. I employ the analytical framework of Sino-capitalism to highlight a dialectical conception of top-down state-centric modes of governance interacting with bottom-up networked modes of entrepreneurship and, at times, brutal market forces. This conception stands in contrast to the more static comparative approaches which have dominated the CC literature.  

The case of China demonstrates the importance of an open, more evolutionary and dynamic approach to understanding CC. In particular, the character of the state, the nature of international integration, and the existence of contradictory/symbiotic politico-economic logics must be heeded. The paper highlights the logic of Sino-capitalism’s reproduction and reconstitution. The Chinese Communist Party’s political survival has created a dynamic of institution-building sustained by an ideology of reform with constantly changing ideas about how to govern the economy. This constitutes a discursive element of how Chinese elites have pursued reform and persuaded the Chinese about its necessity and desirability. The crucial role of ideas therefore has to be incorporated into understanding dynamics of change under capitalism. They illuminate the most fascinating aspect of Sino-capitalism: its chronic re-composition and rebalancing of institutional spheres via top-down/bottom-up dialectics shaping and shaped by ideas and political interests. The study of China thus poignantly underlines the political and discursive nature of capitalism’s perpetual need for expansion, disruption, and reinvention.