In the name of the nation: authoritarian practices, capital accumulation, and the radical simplification of development in China’s global vision

Ruben Gonzalez Vicente*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

19 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

This article explores how the nationalist, business-centric, elite-led and labour-subsuming logics of development in contemporary China are mirrored in contingent and locally-mediated ways in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). In China’s present ‘de-revolutionary’ moment [Wang, 2006], non-elite populations are conceived as labour inputs to be used and moulded in the pursuit of national development through market means. This same developmental ethos, mediated by a plethora of Chinese and non-Chinese actors, underpins the authoritarian tendencies of BRI-branded projects across the world. While authoritarian practices in China have both Leninist and capitalist genealogies and drivers, I argue here that Global China’s most tangible and remarkable impacts on international authoritarianism are found in the practices required to secure capital accumulation along the BRI.
Original languageEnglish
JournalGlobalizations
Early online date19 Sept 2022
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 19 Sept 2022

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Keywords

  • Authoritarianism
  • Belt and Road Initiative
  • nationalism
  • development
  • Global China

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'In the name of the nation: authoritarian practices, capital accumulation, and the radical simplification of development in China’s global vision'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this