East Asia Workshop: Politics, Economy and Society presents

 

 “A Tale of Two Chinas: the Power-Capital China and the Rights-Deprived China”

Z. George Hong

Professor of History

Purdue University Calumet

4:30-6:00p.m., Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Pick Lounge, 5828 South University Ave.

Abstract

This presentation – A Tale of Two Chinas – is designed to explore the non-economic price of the Chinese economic development since 1978, highlighting issues such as a power-capital China and rights-deprived China. The first part of this presentation focuses on the institutional price of economic development, with an emphasis on the emergence and development of the power-capital institution. Such an institution is a hybrid political culture that infuses political power and economic capital, as evidenced in the formation of the power-capital economy, growth of the power-capital entrepreneurs and the emergence of the power-capital culture. The second part of this presentation deals with another socio-cultural price of China’s economic growth: the poverty of rights. This is seen in the exclusion and deprivation of disadvantaged groups in the process of economic transition and development. This issue resulted from systematic inequality and injustice and is the main cause for under-representative group’s daunting socio-economic challenges. This is evidenced by the poverty of rights for the urban poor, the poverty of landed rights for farmers and the rights deprivation for migrant laborers. Further evidence includes the Protestant house church members since 1978. Taking advantage of interdisciplinary research on economics, sociology, political science and history, this presentation is intended to supply another analytical dimension of China’s development since 1978, by offering a study of the socio-cultural price and consequences of China’s economic development.

 

Workshop website: http://cas.uchicago.edu/workshops/eastasia/

Student coordinator: Yan Xu (xuyan@uchicago.edu)

Faculty sponsors: Xi Song, Dali Yang and Dingxin Zhao

 

This presentation is sponsored by the Council on Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences and Center for East Asian Studies. Persons with disabilities who believe they may need assistance please contact the student coordinator in advance.