Examples of Short Answer Questions

1. Examples of concepts to identify and explain the significance for the course:

Eurocentrism the practice of viewing the world from a European-centered or Western-centered perspective Theories that are developed in Europe and used to explain more broadly occurring phenomenon outside of Europe

Sinocentrism refers to the ancient notion that China was the cultural center of the world

Marxism the economic and political theories of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels that hold that human actions andinstitutions are economically determined and that class struggle is needed to create historical change and that capitalism will ultimately be superseded by communism

o Conflict as the mechanism of evolution Marx’s appeal to the science of his day “It is a question of these laws themselves, of these tendencies working with iron necessity towards

inevitable results.” Theory of economic evolution Typology of economic configurations The motor of change: the contradiction between the mode of production and the relations of production

o Karl Marx (1818-1883) An evolutionary thinker, a student of the Darwinian age, most of whom denigrated China Was the first and still among the most important theorists of capitalism

Marx criticized the British political economists because they missed a fundamental truth. The capitalist mode of production, capitalism for short, was a thing, a real phenomenon with an

internal logic that came into being as a concrete stage of history and that would change the world. For Marx, what is the role of the state?

The state is part of the superstructure, a part that arises out of the “real” foundations, that supports its interests, and that becomes the locus for conflicts of interest.

Politicians necessarily serve the interests of the capitalist class Oriental Despotism: Societies without the internal contradictions that move history forward. Asia, to

Marx, was the exception that proved the rule, and that rule was the dynamism in Western history. Marx developed a perspective to explain a period of intense, encompassing change in Europe, the

revolutionary period influencing the political and economic organization of Europe in the first half of the 19th century.

His work on Asia makes Asia the mirror image of his view on Europe. Marx thought of the contrast between a rapidly changing, evolving Europe and what appeared to

many as an unchanging Asia.

Import Substitution an economic theory employed by developing or emerging market nations that wish to increasetheir self-sufficiency and decrease their dependency on developed countries.

Implementation of the theory focuses on protection and incubation of domestic infant industries so they may emerge to compete with imported goods and make the local economy more self-sufficient

Capitalism an economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private ownersfor profit, rather than by the state

o Capitalism, as a type of economic configuration characterized by bourgeois ownership, is a mode of production that is doomed because of an inherent contradiction between those who own the means of production, the factory owners, and those who do not and who must labor on their behalf, the proletarian.

o In a feudal mode of production, the value of goods can be represented as C—M—C,o But in capitalism value is changed into M—C—M’, with M’ being money plus more money, or as Marx described it,

“surplus value” o How do capitalists obtain M’ (a profit) from use value that is computed in the labor, which is the real value of goods?

The capitalist owners must squeeze more labor out of workers than they pay them for, and thus the capitalists obtain a profit.

Colonialism  a term where a country conquers and rules over other regions. It means exploiting the resources of theconquered country for the benefit of the conqueror

Colonialism is termed as building and maintaining colonies in one territory by people from another territoryo Colonialism can altogether alter the social structure, physical structure and economics of a region. It is quite normal

that in the long run, the traits of the conqueror are inherited by the conquered Colonialism in its modern form first began to take shape about 400 years ago, and it changed the economic landscape of the

world forevero For one thing, it enabled Europe to get fabulously rich on the trade it producedo The foundations of what we now think of as free-market capitalism were invented during the colonial era, partly to

handle trade. It’s an undecided question in academic circles (amongst historians for instance) as to whether colonialism is important purely

for its economic consequences, or whether cultural factors (such as missionary Christianity or a sense of racial superiority) also plays a part.

The simple way to distinguish these two is to think of colonialism as practice and imperialism as the idea driving the practice In Colonialism, one can see great movement of people to the new territory and living as permanent settlers

o Though they lead the life as permanent settlers, they still maintain allegiance to their mother country Colonialism is a term used to describe the settlement of places like India, Australia, North America, Algeria, New Zealand and

Brazil, which were all controlled by the Europeans. o By 19th century, nearly entire world was conquered/colonized by the West

Few exceptions (South America, Thailand, Japan) Coming to the etymology, colony comes from the Latin word “colonus,” which means farmers

Imperialism means creating an empire, expanding into the neighboring regions and expanding its dominance far

Imperialism has a specifically expansionist connotation The simple way to distinguish these two is to think of colonialism as practice and imperialism as the idea driving the practice Imperialism is just exercising power over the conquered regions either through sovereignty or indirect mechanisms of control Imperialism also comes from Latin word imperium, which means to command Imperialism is described where a foreign government governs a territory without significant settlement

o The scramble for Africa in the late 19th century and the American domination of Puerto Rico and the Philippines can be cited as examples of Imperialism.

Perspective

o Perspective is a word that first gets its meaning from the science of optics: a device that aids the act of seeing. In the 14th and 15th centuries, perspective was applied in art, in particular in drawing and painting, as a precise method to represent the observers’ (i.e., the artist’s) point of view.

o In social science, what does perspective mean? First, consider an account without a perspective. Everything counts, nothing is omitted. Each fact is as

important as any other fact, and facts fill the room Social science perspectives give the dimensional depth to a narrative.

Some things come to the fore, other things recede in importance, and other things disappear altogether.

o Historical perspectives Not one perspective, but many Important events, important people, important trends Most historical perspectives assume some sort of social science principle.

o Social science perspectives Also many different perspectives Regimes, economies, demography, family structure, religion, architecture The perspective depends on your point of view.

o Which perspective is correct? In drawing, this question does not make sense. In social science, this question is open for debate. What you see depends on where you are looking. It depends on your eye level, on what and how you look at

the world. o What makes a perspective objective?

In drawing, perspectives can be rendered in precise, mathematical terms. But does mathematical precision give a drawing a “real” understanding of what is being observed? Reality is definitely a matter of interpretation in art as well as in social science.

Patriarchy

o Patriarchy (the authority of the head of household) gives rise to patrimonialism, which is the extension of patriarchy beyond the household

Chinese patriarchy refers to the history and prevalence of male dominance in Chinese society and culture Confucian conceptions of "respect for the elders" has been focused on preserving the traditional role of the father as the

primary leader and decision maker of the familyo In the hierarchy of traditional Chinese cultural family life, the father and sons take prominence over the mother and

daughters. Infanticide in China and the preference for boys can be seen as stemming from the boys having more social and economic value than girls.

Patrimonialism

“The extension of patriarchy beyond the household” Consider patrimonial rule as a type of rule that is implemented to control vast territories

• A patrimonial empire is a territory ruled by someone who legitimizes his (or her) power on the basis of customary, patriarchal principles and who organizes a staff based on ties of dependency and imputed loyalty.

The rise of the West moves, with the help of charisma, from patrimonialism to legal rational rule.o Weber equated the Chinese and Roman empires in terms of their structure of domination both were patrimonial

As evidence, he equated the Roman concept of patria potestas and the Chinese concept of xiao. Patria potestas: Legitimized the power of the head of household over the property and people of

the household.

Xiao: Called on the duty of people to fulfill their roles as subordinates: Children should obey their parents, wives their husbands, officials their emperor.

Rome: patrimonial foundation based on slavery and alien status. In Asia generally, but in China in particular, patrimonial foundation based on eunuchism and other like

phenomena.o Weber termed the Chinese administrative structure a “patrimonial bureaucracy.”o An aspect of patrimonial rule was to combine world images (religious in nature) with some form of systematic

administration. What we see then is that patrimonialism/patriarchy displays a very different configuration between China and Europe.

o In Europe, patrimonialism/patriarchy diminished over time, as rulers and religious authority proclaimed their authority over people and property in the patriarch’s household.

In Europe, as state and religious institutions gained prominence, this right to punish household members reduced and reduced and reduced.

In China, the power of the head of household, namely the father, grew over time so that the father had greater power over immediate family members in the last dynasties than in the earlier ones.

o In Europe, this power to punish household members was directly related to the presence of great estates, and the power of the head of household to control those estates (manors, latifundia, oikos) including serfs and slaves who worked on the estates. This right to own great estates and to control the labor on this estate diminished over time, along with the power to punish.

However, in China, the power to develop great estates and to control the labor on those estates, including slave labor, was very strong in the early dynasties, but disappeared in later one.

So much so, that the household diminished to the small lineage, the extended household, and even this household split with each generational succession.

o This suggests, of course, that China and, indeed, other countries in Asia, have a very different civilizational path than Europe.

Eunuchism the condition of being a eunuch. As a political function during the great age of Asian empires, eunuchismwas one device by which the rule assured himself a body of personally loyal instruments who could be used against bureaucrats and feudal opponents alike

o In Asia generally, but in China in particular, patrimonial foundation based on “eunuchism” and other like phenomena As the end of the Ming dynasty, there were more eunuchs in the imperial household than officials governing

the provinces. In China, where family is the core of society, how could eunuchs become so important?

o The role of eunuchs Guarding the imperial harem, validating succession The main officials in the imperial household The most important generals in the army

o How does one create loyalty in a society where one’s first obligation is to one’s parents? By creating dependents who will be loyal to you first above all others. Eunuchism stopped when the Qing dynasty ended in 1911. Eunuchism ended with the last emperor

o The use of eunuchs as a lever of imperial power was only one aspect of patrimonial rule in China.

2. How do you see the film Rashomon fitting into the course?  

3. What is the largest, most significant threat to patrimonial rule in general?

Loss of dependency and the assertion of autonomy by officials. Consider patrimonial rule as a type of rule that is implemented to control vast territories. Remember it took weeks, even months, to get to some parts of most large empires. How can you, as a ruler, maintain the loyalty of officials who rule in your name but are located in distant places?

o First of all, you need to select someone who has the stature to rule. Slaves, eunuchs, bondservants—these people may be dependent on you, but will get no respect from a

population you want to control. So the dilemma: Who do you choose?

Select people who have close ties to you. o Your military officers, high ranking members of your ethnic group—people who in

general do not belong in the place where they are appointed to govern. Keep them dependent by rotating them from one post to another, by paying them directly from your

treasury, by making them come visit you on a regular basis. Establish a way to spy on them.

Weber termed the Chinese administrative structure a “patrimonial bureaucracy.”o On the surface, therefore, Weber appears to be making a valid observation--patrimonial dependency was an

important aspect of imperial rule in both Imperial Rome and Imperial China. And patriarchalism was widespread throughout society.

4. Why was Hong Kong one of the “organizing centers of Chinese-led capitalism” during the pre-World War II period?

Hong Kong

Think about Hong Kong as place where there is an ever-changing mix and an ever-contested but still organized movement of people, firms, money, products, and industries

Hong Kong, as a place, was and continues to be at the organizing center of Chinese-led capitalismo Hong Kong assumed this role shortly after its founding in the nineteenth century and continued it until World War

Two. o Then, after the war and the Chinese revolution, Hong Kong was the first location where Chinese capitalism re-

emerged, although in a somewhat changed form.

We can trace many of these commercial practices back to economic expansion that occurred during the Ming dynasty But the fact is that these economic practices were very flexible, did not rely on state patronage, built communities of trust

among close colleagues, and were readily adapted to seizing economic opportunities. Founded squarely on institutions of family and locale, these flexible economic practices offered the Chinese their opening,

their passageway into a world economy that was just then in the process of becoming globally integrated

Less than ten years after the opening of China and the founding of Hong Kong, Chinese peasants, merchants, and artisans began to migrate around the world in search of their fortunes. In absolute terms, this migration was extremely large in its day, probably the largest free migration in the world during the nineteenth century. The migration was widely dispersed throughout the world, although the majority of the migrants went to Southeast Asia. The migration was also, from a comparative perspective, quite extraordinary. It was a temporary migration and, like the economic activity itself, was well organized through fellow-regional relationships. The majority of the emigrants planned to and eventually did return to their hometowns

These Chinese businessmen organized networks of interconnected small firms to collect and process such primary products as timber and rice and to distribute sundry goods throughout the countryside. By the second decade of the twentieth century, the

Chinese dominated the service and manufacturing sectors of the local economies throughout the entire region and were major figures in trade between Asian countries and the West

Business people use these networks, based on reciprocal relationships (guanxi networks), to raise investment capital, secure the necessary labor, manufacture products, and distribute commodities.10 Building and rebuilding these networks creates an economy based on deal-making entrepreneurship

Hong Kong was the center of this capitalist expansion “the economic capital of the overseas Chinese”o The business structure of Hong Kong in the period before and during World War Two consisted of firms owned by

people coming from or still living in districts in the Canton deltao These people jointly owned sets of firms that often included hotels, restaurants, insurance companies,

import/export companies, banks, and investment and loan companies – all designed to aid the flow of human and material resources from Guangdong, through Hong Kong, into the rest of the world and then back again

In the years before World War Two, Hong Kong served as a capitalist funnelo Hundreds of thousands of Chinese emigrants from the Guangdong and Fukien hinterland left from and returned to

Hong Kong every yearo Billions of Chinese dollars flowed through Hong Kong banks and remittance centerso Some money left China for investments in distant places, but the larger portion flowed into China in the form of

remittances– wages and profits from work performed elsewhereo The money flowing into China fueled the commercialization of South China in the period before World War Two

What is frequently forgotten is the fact that Hong Kong played the same role in the economy of China as it did in the economies of Southeast Asia

o In the early twentieth century, organizing their commercial activity largely through Hong Kong, the Cantonese were the largest group of businessmen in Shanghai, and they largely controlled the distribution of imported sundry items throughout China.

The underlying reason for Hong Kong’s industrialization was Chinese commercial entrepreneurialism, a resumption of Chinese involvement in the world economy

o Chinese businessmen in Hong Kong had to find markets for products that were or that could be produced in a small enclave cut off from normal trade patterns and with no natural resources other than its people

o Unlike Japan, Hong Kong, even in the earliest stages of post-war growth, did not have sufficient local markets to consume the goods produced in its factories. As Wong Siu-lun notes in his seminal study on the Shanghai industrialists in Hong Kong, marketing was always the biggest problem faced by textile manufacturers, so important in fact that factory owners themselves or their closest representatives “usually traveled in person to look for potential markets and to negotiate face-to-face with their clients”

The old Southeast Asian-centered trading patterns had vanished, and a new set of trading patterns had appeared. But despite these changes, continuity in organization and control remained

o Hong Kong entrepreneurs let the markets pull productso Networks of small firms hunted for and then responded to that market demand

Such a system of commercial capitalism is very different than the Japanese form of capitalism in which large manufacturing corporations create products and push those products into markets

The Japanese system is demand-creating and Chinese system is demand-responsive.

5. What is the distinction between theory and methodology?

Theory and method in social and historical sciences o Both theory and method are used to create and lend credence to perspectives. o Theory tries to get at what is not apparent on the surface.o Method tries to provide you with the evidence showing that the theory makes sense.

Theory

o The internal coherence of the perspective. Theory is where we stand. Theory is our hypothetical eye level. We view the world through the perspective of a theory.

Is this theory coherent? Does it make sense? Methodology

o The correspondence between theory and the “reality” being observed. The test between so-called theory and so-called reality is done through some kind of methodology. A method of verification that increases our confidence that what we think we see is in fact what we see.

Examples of Essay Questions

1. In his book The China Wave, Zhang Weiwei makes an argument for viewing the Chinese state in a very different way than Western states are viewed. He calls China “A Civilizational State.” How does he distinguish a civilizational state from other types of states? What is your reasoned assessment of Zhang’s argument? Write an essay in which you make a case for your perspective on Zhang’s thesis. As a part of your essay, you should address the question “Why wouldn’t Western states also be viewed as products of Western civilization in the same way that the China state is a product of Chinese civilization?”

China’s rise is not the rise of an ordinary country, but the rise of a country, a civilizational-state, a new mode of development and a new political discourse, and all this is bringing a wave of change unprecedented in human history

o The Chinese civilization is the world’s longest continuous civilization and it seems capable of drawing from other civilizations while retaining its own identity

o When one treats the Western countries not as single countries but as part of Western civilization, one acquires a sharper perspective of history, culture and reality

Western languages tend to focus on seeking differences Civilization-State vs. Nation-State Civilization State (Western view)—China has found it hard to evolve modern laws, economics, defense, education, and

political governance Chinese state is among the most competent in the world, as shown by its guidance for economic growth, yet it still retains

many traditions associated with a civilization-state, and these traditions are playing a vital role today in the world’s most populous nation

8 features can be distilled from the civilization state of China that combine the elements of the old Chinese civilization and the new modern state

1. Super-large Population2. Super-vast Territory3. Super-long Traditions 4. Super-rich culture5. Unique language6. Unique politics 7. Unique society8. Unique economy

2. What is the “China model of development”? Zhang Weiwei, Zhao Suisheng, and William Callahan each suggest different perspectives about this model of development. Write an essay outlining the main dimensions of the China Model, and their differing interpretations. What is your own interpretation of this model?

Zhang Weiwei (“The China Wave”)

Recognizes that statistics can be deceptive GDP Paradox China is also described as a developing country, with a low per capita GDP (100th in the world)

o Two main methods for computing GDP official exchange rate and PPP (“Purchasing Power Parity”) Official Exchange Rate—may grossly underestimate the real size of the Chinese economy PPP—to compute the actual domestic purchasing power of a currency through comparing the prices of

basket goods and services, as way to correct the possibly distortions in the official exchange rate method o PPP method may better reflect the reality of Chinese economy (more accurate)

Important to consider various factors such as the levels of economic development, education, healthcare, housing and average life span when we measure the level of development and the quality of life in a given place

o PPP is favored for their closer link to welfareo Official exchange rate does not consider the size and nature of a country

China’s rise is not the rise of an ordinary country, but the rise of a country, a civilizational-state, a new mode of development and a new political discourse, and all this is bringing a wave of change unprecedented in human history

Civilization-State vs. Nation-State Civilization State—China has found it hard to evolve modern laws, economics, defense, education, and political governance Chinese state is among the most competent in the world, as shown by its guidance for economic growth, yet it still retains

many traditions associated with a civilization-state, and these traditions are playing a vital role today in the world’s most populous nation

8 features can be distilled from the civilization state of China that combine the elements of the old Chinese civilization and the new modern state

9. Super-large Population10. Super-vast Territory11. Super-long Traditions 12. Super-rich culture13. Unique language14. Unique politics 15. Unique society16. Unique economy

Rise of China is an unprecedented wave of change in the global and economic arena, and it should be a win-win process for all, and it can be so long as one keeps an open, broad, and inclusive mind

Western wisdom is indeed insufficient, and Chinese wisdom should make its contributions nowo China has learned so much from the West and will continue to do soo Now time for West to learn a little more about or even from China’s approach and the Chinese ideas

Zhao Suisheng (“The China Model”)

The Beijing Consensus (as an alternative to the Washington Consensus) has three features1. A commitment to innovation and the constant experimentation in reforms2. An emphasis on sustainability and equality instead of per capita GDP as the only measure of progress3. A commitment to self-determination

China model—used to describe China’s approach development, in which a high level of economic growth is achieved without fundamentally changing the communist one-party rule, in contrast to the Western model of modernization that demands a free market system going hand in hand with liberal democracy

o The China model, in this case, is often in a shorthand way to described as—a combination of economic freedom and political oppression

This description, however, is not accurate Economically, China has indeed established in significant part a free-market economy, called

by Chinese leaders a socialist market economy, in which labor, capital and commodities flow increasingly freely

o The Chinese economy, however, is only selectively free

The state still keeps ultimate control over strategic sectors of the economy and a large range of core industries, including utilities, transportation, telecommunications, finance, and the media

A variant of the East Asian model The ‘illiberal’ aspects of China’s socialist market economy have not prevented China from achieving a high rate of

economic growth and lifting the living standards of the Chinese people China’s market economy, in many aspects, is similar to the East Asian newly industrialized economies (NIEs) of

Singapore, Hong Kong, and South Korea is the 1970s and 1980s when neo-liberal economic policy and political authoritarianism coincided with historical opportunities for export-led development and led to rapid modernization

From this perspective, the China model is a 21st-cetury variant of the East Asian model with the following three features

1. China’s modernization is driven not by any ideological doctrine or principles but by pragmatism expressed by the famous Chinese saying, “a cat, whether it is white or black, is a good one as long as it is able to catch mice”

2. China’s modernization is led by a strong and pro-development state, capable of shaping national consensus and ensuring overall political and macroeconomic stability in which to pursue wide-ranging reforms emphasizing economic growth as an overarching national goal and political stability as a pre-condition for modernization

3. China’s approach toward modernization has involved selective learning from liberal Western models, including the American model what makes the Chinese model unique is that the communist regime has safeguarded is own policy space as to when, where, and how to adopt Western ideas

Ruling out Western-style democracy as not a fit to China’s particular circumstances, political reform in Chinas has thus been undertaken mostly in the following four aspects, which have defined the political part of the China model

1. Institutionalization of the leadership system2. The effort to make the government more responsive to an increasingly plural society3. The improvement to citizen’s constitutional rights4. Transformation of the CCP from a revolutionary party to a ruling party

These political reform measures have aimed at finding a ‘China’s Road’ or a ‘Third Road’ of political transformation The ‘First Road’ is to adopt Western-style competitive elections and party politics and transform the CCP into a social

democratic party to compete in parliamentary and electoral politics The ‘Second Road’ is to embrace democratic ideals through the so-called ‘shock therapy’ of rapid change, including

overthrowing communist party rule In the eyes of the of the CCP elite, China is not ready for the ‘first road’ and the result of the ‘second road’ would be unacceptable turmoil and instability

o They argue, sincerely in many cases, that China’s different political history and culture require a third way to retain the single party rule, and gradually expand political participation from society if China is to evolve in a unified and peaceful manner

The “Third Road” of transformation is the essence of the China model Because it is a non-ideological, pragmatic, and experimenting approach to spur both social stability and economic

growth while not compromising the party’s authority rule, the China model has not only gained ground among leaders of some developing countries

The appeal of the China model has come largely due to the following three developments in the past decade1. China has been successful in boasting the world’s fastest-growing economy under the one-party rule The

China model is thus presented as a fast track for economic growth without visible social and political disorder that often comes as a by-product of democratization

2. The declining attractiveness of the Western model of modernization due to the US economic, political and foreign policy failures in the recent decade

3. China’s ‘value-free’ diplomacy toward many development countries Unlike Western diplomacy that sets moral principles such as good governance, democracy, transparency, rule of law, and respect for human rights as one of several foreign policy objectives, China’s diplomacy is guided mostly by economic and strategic interests

It is due to the above three developments that the China model has become an alternative of development by default

William Callahan (“Sino-speak”)

Sinocentric presents an essentialized Chinese civilization that is culturally determined to rule Asia, if not the world o Chinese Exceptionalism visions of recent Chinese history founded on isolation or apartness from the rest of the

world Looks at the characteristics of China model as being from path-depended trajectories of development

o Path Dependence—history makes a difference Where you end up depends very much on where you start

This thesis is especially accurate in collective endeavors Rather than explore China’s history of the future in terms of optimists versus pessimists, this essay considers how

pairs of books from three different institutional contexts debate China’s futureo Show the contours of historiographical debates in international relations literatureo Demonstrate how historians are complicating popular views of China’s future

This Trends essay examines books that look to the past—China’s imperial history—not only for China’s future but also that of the world

By 2009, Beijing’s foreign policy had become much more assertive, with China aggressively pushing its own core interests and values on the world state in less than a charming manner

China’s futurologists, however, remain undaunted; they address this problem of constant and unpredictable change in a particular way to understand the future, they look to long-term trends from the past

Examine how Chinese elites are thinking about their future in terms of their past o Analyze how authors employ a set of distinctions to make sense of China’s future and the world’s future

Convergence vs. Divergence East vs. West Tradition vs. Modernity Civil vs. Military Inside vs. Outside

Rather than figure China’s modernization as a process of socialization, which they would criticize as “Westernization,” each argue that China has its own modernity, which is not only different from the West but is actually its opposite

o China is building its own road following a model of Chinese exceptionalism that promotes global peace and harmony rather than what they see as Pax Americana’s incessant wars

Sino-speak is the emerging dialect for the new orientalism o Sino-speak employs a new vocabulary and grammar of naturalized civilization and essentialized identity and

to describe—and prescribe—China’s rejuvenation to greatness Today, many criticisms of Chinese power resemble Japan-bashing from an earlier era. But Sino-speaks new

orientalism, which justifies China’s rise to global power, also has much in common with Japan’s celebrations of its uniquely superior culture in the 1980s

o The discourse of Chinese exceptionalism is hardly unique; as articulations of American exceptionalism show, part of being a great power is celebrating the moral value of your new world order

o The alternative to Western hegemony here is not a post-hegemonic international society that is more fluid and open, but a different form of hegemony that is centered on the dynamic relationship of civil and military values in China

The contours of Chinese exceptionalism, new orientalism, and Sino-speak become clearer when they are compared with space, the state, history, race, and values

Sino-speak is resolutely continentalo China’s large territory and population and long history make it a gravitational center around which the Asian

region naturally orbitso Instead of celebrating cross-border flows, Sino-speak looks to China’s eternal civilization to determine social,

cultural, and territorial borders Sino-speak asserts China as the center of Asia not as a nation-state, but as a civilization-state, a military-state, an

empire-state, and a party-state Sino-speak is fascinated by essential identity and pure “race” Sino-speak is resolutely historical, asserting epic History to explain China’s inevitable rise as a rejuvenation, one that

returns China to its place at the center of the world

New orientalism’s mix of scholarship and policy-making is not crafting a post-hegemonic world order; rather, it provides discursive legitimacy for Sinocentric hegemony in the 21st century

3. Over the course of the last two centuries the political structure of many Asia societies has changed from empire, to colony, to nation-state. Define these political forms, give an example of each, and briefly describe the historical transition from one to the other.

Empire Empires are complex, are ever changing, political entities. Before the modern era, empires occurred throughout the world, in

Europe as well as Asia. In relation to a nation-state, an empire is a comparatively larger geographical entity in which a group of states or nations are

ruled by a single monarch or authority The system of rule in most empires rested on the creation and maintenance of loyalty, usually based on some kind of

patrimonial means. Regardless of what you, as a ruler, decide, history shows that over and over again, decentralization occurs.

o What is decentralization vs. centralization? The fate of most empires is gradually to decentralize, and break into independently ruled territories.

An aspect of patrimonial rule was to combine world images (religious in nature) with some form of systematic administration.

There was a cyclical appearance to these empires. They would emerge more or less centralized and end more or less decentralized.

All this gave way in the 19th and 20th century transition from empire to state.

A patrimonial empire is a territory ruled by someone who legitimizes his (or her) power on the basis of customary, patriarchal principles and who organizes a staff based on ties of dependency and imputed loyalty.

There is a lot variation in how empires are organized, but they all have an internal tension between centralization and decentralization, with decentralization typically winning out in the long term.

Patrimonial empires fill territorial space in a very different way than modern states today. o The further away from the center the more tangential and difficult it is to establish a strong hold over people

and territory. “Heaven is high and the emperor is far away.”

Typically, empires have frontier zones where the center’s hold is weak or nonexistent, and other powers are, by comparison, stronger.

The way patrimonial rulers dealt with frontier zones is to determine whether those other powers recognize you as a legitimate ruler and whether they want to establish a peaceful relationship with you or not.

o Property boundaries vs. overlapping relationshipso Most political entities (empires, kingdoms, city states) in Asia in the time of Vasco da Gama existed within a

web of tributary relationships and overlapping relationships.

Colony

However administered, a colony is defined as a territory claimed by a parent state as following under its own legal and political jurisdiction.

o A colony could consist of a group of settlers who regard this territory as a permanent residence, o Or a colony could be regarded by the parent state as an administrative entity governed for some defined

period or in perpetuity by individuals who see themselves as temporary residents. o “A settlement in a new country; a body of people who settle in a new locality, forming a community subject to

or connected with their parent state.” (Oxford English Dictionary) It is useful to distinguish between what is known as the first and second ages of European colonialism.

o The first age of European colonialism,

Organized through royal charters: The British East Indian company is an example, Settler colonies Trading colonies, administrative entities set up for the purposes of promoting and protecting trade.

In Asia, all the colonies began as trading colonies, outposts of the European home country that enabled and protected chartered companies.

o In early modern Europe (roughly 1500-1800), chartered companies were state monopolies that had the exclusive right to trade (or otherwise exploit economic opportunities) in a given geographic space.

Most colonial acquisitions in the second period occurred after 1870, usually in the 1880s and 1890s. The British Empire in 1815 The short answer is that the British Empire in 1815 retains a decentralized patrimonial character, even though it was

quite different than the Asian patrimonial empires.o The trading economy of Great Britain was a version of state-led, patrimonial capitalism, with chartered

companies being the leading source of revenues for the central government. The 19th century marks tremendous changes in all spheres of European life, led by transformations in politics and in

economies.o The 19th century is the watershed.

On one side of the 19th century is the end of patrimonial empires and the end of trading and tributary economies.

On the other side of the 19th century is the rise of modern states and capitalistic economies.

Nation-State Generally refers to a state made up of people who share some common traits such as language, religion and way of life

o Refers to a group of people who feel bound into a single body by shared culture, values, folkways, religion and/or language.

o The most noticeable characteristic is the degree to which nation states use the state as an instrument of national unity, in economic, social and cultural life

o More favorable to economic growth In Asia, Japan went through the Meiji Restoration and became a nation-state and defeated China in 1895

o With the kind of power for national unity and war mobilization

4. Drawing on the lecture and readings, describe the difference between Asia during the first age of Western colonialism (before 1815) and Asia during the second age of colonialism (between 1815 and 1914). Be as specific as you can, using historical examples, and citing course material.

Asia during first age of colonialism (Before 1815)

Asia during second age of colonialism(Between 1815 and 1914)

Trade oriented Not much expansion Only trade out-posts

Real invasions Territorial expansion

5. What are the distinguishing characteristics of Chinese and Japanese-style capitalism, and why was Hong Kong such an important site of Asian capitalism?

Two key terms that underlie this chapter1. Capitalism2. Hong Kong

There are two indigenous “great traditions” of organized capitalist development in East and Southeast Asia that began in the nineteenth century with the opening of East Asia to a Western-dominated world economy

o Japanese and the Chinese modes of organizing and controlling the economic opportunities in the region Japanese mode one of corporatized political economy Chinese mode one of entrepreneurial deal-making

o These two modes of economic organization have led to two broad, path-dependent trajectories of developmento Chinese and Japanese modes of seizing economic opportunities in the nineteenth century launched two distinct, more

or less organized capitalist trajectories of economic development Greatly altered by WWII and its aftermath, these trajectories nerveless re-emerged in the second half of the

twentieth century What we see in this contrast is not the presence of capitalism in the one and the absence of capitalism in the other

o Rather, we see two different versions of capitalism emerging more or less simultaneously with the opening of these economies to global economic and political influences

These same two versions of capitalism have intensified and have taken their places among the dominant forms of global capitalism in the late twentieth century

The Japanese and Chinese responses are separate reactions to the spread of Western imperialism; both were equally capitalistic and both have led historically to distinct trajectories of economic development.

Japanese-style vs. Chinese-style of Capitalism

Japanese Chinese One of corporatize political economy Japanese capitalism is largely an indigenous

transformation. It is a product of political economy Primary carriers of capitalist development were coalitions

of political and economic eliteso Of a mutually reinforcing system of governmental

controls and elite economic privileges In a very short period, the Japanese were

able to shift from small-scale production of handicraft goods to large-scale production of industrial products, from small factories to hierarchies of bureaucratically controlled corporations organized into conglomerate networks

Japanese industrialization was part of an evolving, but always coordinated political policy.

o A part of this policy was the creation of an industrial structure made up of competing enterprise groups, each composed of large, quasi-independent firms organized collectively, known as the zaibatsu

In every arena – in politics, in business, in education – Japanese elites had sufficient authority within Japanese society to implement their policies successfully

o This ability rested on a system of internal controls that permeated the social order

This system of social control relied on

One of entrepreneurial deal-making

The carriers of Chinese capitalism were not political elites, but rather the heads of households who wanted to achieve some wealth and local renown

o These heads of households were peasants, merchants, artisans, and occasionally scholars; they were not organized as distinct classes of people; but rather they were family heads who moved into and out of ambiguously defined social and economic roles

o The organizational medium for this Chinese economy rested largely on individual entrepreneurs and family firms embedded in extensive regional commercial networks, networks of fellow-regionals.

o Was an economy organized through institutions controlled by people embedded in local society.

o From the time of the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644), the Chinese economy has always been a triumph of local society, never of the state

o Family, kinship, and regionally based institutions shaped economic activity and nurtured distinctive forms of enterprise structure

Huge businesses, however, were very rare, because most wealthy businessmen did not try to create larger and larger horizontally or vertically integrated firms, as occurred in

intricate intersecting relationships that created, beyond kinship, intense structurally embedded duties and obligations, which, from the participants’ points of view, were demanding, even oppressive, but not necessarily centralized and authoritarian

This system of control gave the Japanese elites the ability to mobilize and manipulate vast human and material resources

At this point in time, in those early years of global change, this ability to mobilize also gave the Japanese an opening, a passageway by which to propel themselves collectively into the global scene, economically as well as politically

Why did Japanese elites pursue this route?o Japanese officials selected this course of action

because they recognized their own limitations vis-à-vis their chief opponents in Asia, the Chinese

o In the middle of the nineteenth century, with the Qing Dynasty still holding firm, Japanese officials felt that commercial expansion in Asia was not a viable strategy

Japan or the United Stateso If they remained economically active at all and

did not retire to the countryside, as so many wealthy businessmen did, they invested in extensive networks of family members and friends running small and middle-sized firms, often covering several areas of business and in diverse locations

Reasons for this strategy were several1. Effects of inheritance upon shaping business practices

While Japan’s more or less closed economy was gearing up for the war in Asia, the economies in which the Chinese predominated opened up to global trade.

These economic advances occurred in China and in Southeast Asia without the support and the coordination of a strong state

o In Japan, the state legitimized capitalism, coordinated elite interests, and resolved conflicts among the elites

o In the same period in China, the state collapsed. That, however, did not hinder as much as it freed Chinese entrepreneurs to create networks that spanned political boundaries, and that worked despite, not because of, politics

The weakening and ultimate defeat of the Chinese state opened commerce and industry on the China coast and connected the Chinese with capitalist developments elsewhere

Chinese migration resulted from these conditions.

Though integrated in and dependent on the global economy, this household-based form of capitalism was independent from any one political order

o On the other hand, after a short period of embracing all things Western, the Japanese elite successfully resisted becoming dependent on international trade

Instead, they created their own internal markets and built their own version of a strong corporate-oriented political economy

They started as industrialists producing for local and regional markets, and from there expanded into the service sectors by organizing their own banks and trading companies, and only then did they gradually begin to integrate themselves into the world economy

Absence of a politically framed domestic economy Chinese-dominated areas in the world economy are not

characterized by heavy industries; by comparison, the

Chinese manufacturers specialize in small and medium-sized firms

o These modest-sized factories normally make consumer non-durables – products such clothes, shoes, TV sets, calculators, computers – manufactured items that fill houses throughout the United States and Europe, as well as in Asia

Not until the early to mid- 1980s that the entrepreneurial foundations of Chinese capitalism were fully re-established outside the People’s Republic of China

oThe new Chinese entrepreneurs from Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Southeast Asia were no long petty capitalists and no longer bound by considerations of region and lineage

Because Chinese modes of capitalist acquisition are based on bottom-up individual and family-based strategies of seizing opportunities wherever they exist, rather than on top-down corporatist strategies of linking state administrative capabilities with elite economic opportunities, Chinese capitalism is integral to world capitalism itself

Why was Hong Kong such an important site of Asian capitalism?

Hong Kong, as a place, was and continues to be at the organizing center of Chinese-led capitalism. o Hong Kong assumed this role shortly after its founding in the nineteenth century and continued it until World War

Two. o Then, after the war and the Chinese revolution, Hong Kong was the first location where Chinese capitalism re-

emerged, although in a somewhat changed form. Hong Kong is again at the center of this capitalist development.

o Hong Kong’s manufacturing base is now in Guangdongo Hong Kong is again the capitalist funnel through which human and material resources move into and out of China

The largest investors in China are from the Chinese-dominated economies outside of China: Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore.

6. The movie Gandhi is about the difficult transition from British colony to new states (i.e., India and Pakistan). Using this movie as one of your sources, describe the structure of British rule in India, the Indian diaspora in Africa, and the struggle for independence. In your opinion, why was Gandhi such an effective leader. Also, does Orwell’s essay “To Shoot an Elephant” offer any insights into British rule and Gandhi’s leadership?

About a man who sought to put an end to stereotypes and discrimination based on race Presents realistic account of Indian political activist’s life Examines a great deal about the political history of late colonial India and the struggle therein

o Reveals the extent to which the British were oppressive and unwilling to let go of their empireo The struggles faced in India and South Africa under colonial rule

Also shows how non-violent means, especially if they are enacted by a large number of people, can be effective Clothing is a central issue in terms of what it meant to people of the time

o Gandhi puts great emphasis on clothing because he realizes its symbolic importance under colonial rule

Beginning of film Gandhi is dressed like an ordinary Englishman As film goes on Gandhi rejects the English style of dress—he is effectively rebelling against the popular

culture of that time by wearing native garb Gandhi is shedding the assumption that to be successful he has to look just like a white English

man ( Apparent that clothing can help people belong to or reject cultural groups

Amazed by the extent to which Gandhi brought about change in his country and around the world through non-violenceo Struck by how humble he was—someone who possessed such power could be so human and like everyone elseo Shows great deal about the power of peace

Even though his life ended tragically, it seems he would have been glad to die for his cause and would rejoice in what he had helped his country to achieve