Contemporary Asia in the World. New York: Columbia University Press, 2015, c2016. xxiv, 232 pp. (Illustrations, map.) US$35.00, cloth. ISBN 978-0-231-16418-4.
In The China Boom: Why China Will Not Rule the World, John Hopkins-based sociologist Ho-fung Hung sets out to challenge the conventional view that China’s development path is unique and can offer an alternative growth model for emerging nations. Not only is Hung able to convincingly demonstrate that mainstream conceptions of so-called “Chinese capitalism” are wrong; rather, such views are creating intellectual blinders that fail to see the risk of China’s looming economic downfall. Drawing on socio-economic theorists such as Marx and Weber, the study offers a strong historical account of China’s turbulent development path towards an authoritarian capitalist state.
Hung’s thought-provoking analysis centres on what he sees as two dominant myths within the political economy literature. First, he rejects the notion that China has seen an ideological split from its Maoist beginnings that has brought about a radically unique pro-capitalist state. Rather, China’s development path has been continuous and the result of institutional foundations established under Maoist policy. Indeed, Hung argues that capitalism in China has developed through historical state-institution building, geo-political interests, and volatile state-society social relations.
Second, Hung contends that China’s ascent does not pose a subversive risk to the current Bretton Woods-centric economic system. Citing American economic and militaristic hegemony, he points to China’s dependency on the US consumer market with Beijing readily serving as a principle financier through US Treasury bonds to ensure its stability. As Hung writes, “the China boom relies on the global free-market instituted and warranted by the United States. It is thus far from China’s interest to undermine the global neoliberal status quo and U.S. leadership in it” (174). This leads to a convincing argument that China is not driving a radical restructuring of global power.
The book is divided into two parts, the first focusing on the emergence of the capitalist system in China, while the second discusses China’s impact on the global economic system. It is here that Hung lays out his argument for what he sees as the inevitable collapse of China’s growth success. Not only does Hung’s study present a rigorous yet concise account of China’s political economy, it does so within the important context of East Asia’s historical growth model.
The book begins with an account of imperial China’s development patterns within the constraints of the centralized paternalistic state. Hung notes how capitalism was constrained by the government, which saw wealth accumulation as a threat to social stability, and the “elites failure to build a coherent, strong state machinery necessary for surplus centralization and state-led industrialization in the nineteenth and early twentieth century” (33). The following two chapters discuss China’s mid-nineteenth century failed attempt to follow Europe’s industrialization path. It would not be until the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) took power that a successful model of primitive accumulation was introduced in an effort to re-direct wealth from the countryside to the cities. According to Hung, the result led to state-owned industrial capital and infrastructure that was then leveraged through post-Maoist market reform. This allowed Beijing to develop an export-oriented modernization program that benefited from the Cold War economic policies of the United States and the strengthening of East Asian capitalist markets.
It is not until chapter 4 where the book shifts attention towards Hung’s premise on the possible risk and rewards associated with China’s unsustainable growth. Although Hung sees China’s impact on global inequality as significant, he is skeptical if such a trend will continue, especially as China’s per-capita income rises higher than global averages. He also challenges the belief that the developing world will benefit from China’s growth. In chapters 5 and 6, Hung then rejects the view that China is challenging American hegemony. In building his case, he draws on the dominance of the US dollar and military power. He rightly argues that this “twin dominance” will continue shaping the world with China at best emerging as a “new power in an old order.” Indeed, Beijing is dependent on US market strength to support its export-oriented economy since its domestic market is weak. As evidence, Hung points to Beijing’s overinvestment through deficit spending, consumer under-consumption, and China’s general internal wealth imbalance.
While Hung’s assessment is convincing, it offers little in terms of solutions other than a vague commentary on the urgent need for social and political reform. While questioning if China’s authoritarian state can sustain itself without reform, he leaves the reader guessing what such a massive undertaking would look like in a country dominated by an entrenched communist party with over 80 million members. Furthermore, Hung’s position can present itself as overly alarmist. For example, Hung writes, “The imminent and inevitable readjustment of the Chinese economy is poised to create significant repercussions throughout the world” (176). The reader is again left grasping for more direction on what to expect if China is indeed leading the world towards global economic imbalance.
Despite these limitations, Hung’s work is important and will be of interest to those looking for an alternative account for understanding China’s capitalist rise. What’s more, the book should be mandatory reading for anyone concerned with transnational economic policy planning. The China boom is not to be underestimated.
Robert J. Hanlon
Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops, Canada
pp. 118-120