The Right to (Agricultural) Development under Socialism with Chinese Characteristics: the current Sino-Brazilian Relationship

This paper aims at introducing some theoretical and first analytical reflections on the possible implications or directions that the Chinese foreign policy under the premises of Socialism with Chinese characteristics to Brazil could have in the agricultural sector. The underlying hypothesis it intends to explore is that, although incipient, the international trade on primary commodities, specifically on food, may offer room to reframe the implications that models such as the dependency theory point out as a challenge to balanced tradeoffs in the Latin American context. The theoretical analysis offers an initial approach to the interconnections between socialism's international political economy with Chinese characteristics and the Chinese South-South cooperation. Afterward, it places the debate in Brazil's peasantry movement by exploring its correlation with the agribusiness sector and food security, discussing threats and potentialities for alternatives to trade cooperation under a capitalist framework.

Political Economy of Cross-Strait Relations

The article provides a comprehensive analysis of the interrelation of political and economic factors in Cross-Strait relations. The main political factor considered in the study is the policy of the ruling party in Taiwan towards the Mainland, its acceptance of Beijings One China policy and 1992 Consensus, put forward by Mainland China as a political basis for building Cross-Strait dialogue between the parties. Key economic factors include economic cooperation and exchanges between the two sides in such fields as bilateral trade, international capital flows and tourism. The relevance of the study refers to the settlement of the so-called Taiwan issue and the implementation of the complete reunification of the Peoples Republic of China that embodies one of the fundamental interests of Mainland China. The aim of the research is to examine the impact of political cycle in Taiwan on the economic cooperation between Beijing and Taipei, the further intensification of which could lead to the peaceful reunification through economic integration. The study provides a broad overview of the development of relations between Taiwan and Mainland China, focusing on the policies of the Taipei administrations from 1949 to 2019 and its impact on economic cooperation between the two sides. The methodological framework of the paper is mainly based on international political economy. The results of the research suggest that political cycle in Taiwan has almost no impact on Cross-Strait trade and investment. Meanwhile it has quite significant influence on Cross-Strait tourism, especially from the PRC, as it has the administrative means of regulation of the number of Mainland tourists wishing to visit Taiwan.

Tempting the Chinese Dragon: Political Economy of Chinese Tourism to New Zealand

<p>This thesis explores the international political economy (IPE) of outbound Chinese tourism within the context of New Zealand. New Zealand as a case study shows the impact of tourism changes on a nation reliant on tourism. It demonstrates the growing impact of China as an international economic and political power. It utilizes a mixed method approach to conduct a document-based and literature-based investigation and concludes Chinese tourism is reshaping the New Zealand political economy. New Zealand marketing strategies have shifted to cater to the Chinese market but could expand to meet these different interests, including culturescapes and collectivism. The economic impact of Chinese tourism has been broadly positive for New Zealand but far more could be done to leverage tourism. New Zealand is an expensive destination and could target high value tourists. This would require more quality offerings and making full use of the linkages between tourism and trade. More can be done to maximise the value added by e-commerce post visitation. The growth of Chinese tourism has uncovered deficiencies in New Zealand and stimulated debates around how to ensure the New Zealand tourism industry is sustainable. New Zealand policymakers and commentators are debating how to shift tourists to the shoulder seasons and the regions and how to maintain sustainable tourism numbers. The rise of Chinese inbound tourism to New Zealand has also uncovered an infrastructure deficit. By examining the overall state of Chinese tourism to New Zealand, this thesis creates a comprehensive assessment of how Chinese outbound tourism is shaping New Zealand’s political economy.</p>

Tempting the Chinese Dragon: Political Economy of Chinese Tourism to New Zealand

<p>This thesis explores the international political economy (IPE) of outbound Chinese tourism within the context of New Zealand. New Zealand as a case study shows the impact of tourism changes on a nation reliant on tourism. It demonstrates the growing impact of China as an international economic and political power. It utilizes a mixed method approach to conduct a document-based and literature-based investigation and concludes Chinese tourism is reshaping the New Zealand political economy. New Zealand marketing strategies have shifted to cater to the Chinese market but could expand to meet these different interests, including culturescapes and collectivism. The economic impact of Chinese tourism has been broadly positive for New Zealand but far more could be done to leverage tourism. New Zealand is an expensive destination and could target high value tourists. This would require more quality offerings and making full use of the linkages between tourism and trade. More can be done to maximise the value added by e-commerce post visitation. The growth of Chinese tourism has uncovered deficiencies in New Zealand and stimulated debates around how to ensure the New Zealand tourism industry is sustainable. New Zealand policymakers and commentators are debating how to shift tourists to the shoulder seasons and the regions and how to maintain sustainable tourism numbers. The rise of Chinese inbound tourism to New Zealand has also uncovered an infrastructure deficit. By examining the overall state of Chinese tourism to New Zealand, this thesis creates a comprehensive assessment of how Chinese outbound tourism is shaping New Zealand’s political economy.</p>

Wildcat or Lion? Inequality, Agency, and the New Chinese Working Class

<p>The study of Chinese labour politics has returned to the centre of scholarly interest as China has increasingly become involved in global production and trade. As the incidence of labour dispute and workers’ strikes continued to soar, ubiquitous cases of labour rights abuse have been widely reported by international media and academics. The literature of Marxist international political economy has long predicted the insurgency of the Chinese working class resulting from rising inequality, global capital movement and labour division. In contrast, traditional Chinese labour studies are inconclusive as to whether the Chinese working class has gained enough class consciousness to become a cohesive agent for social and political change. This research examines how rising economic, social and political inequalities have impacted on the Chinese working class’s agency. The research shifts the focus from top-down structural analysis to workers’ agency itself, with an emphasis on their cognitive strength. The research was undertaken via a two-case comparative study of the Chinese working class in four megacities and four smaller cities. Data came mostly from statistics and field interviews. This two-case comparative study concludes that, overall, the Chinese working class had a weak behavioural strength, as manifested by inconsistent wildcat-style strikes, which had no clear political strategies. This research also concludes that the working class’s cognitive agency is weak and conservative, as manifested by a weak class identification, their poor understanding of democracy, their low willingness to participate in collective action, and their weak sense of class solidarity. I argue that inequalities and capital movement do not have a simple and unidirectional relationship with the working class’s collective agency. On the one hand, inequalities and capital movement can arouse the working class’s behavioural strength quickly. On the other hand, workers’ cognitive strength is more inert and does not correspond neatly to these two factors. The research findings show that the megacities are more economically developed, with higher inequalities, but with considerably weaker and more conservative working class agency; whereas the smaller cities are less economically developed, with lower inequalities, but with less weak and conservative working class agency. The addition of cognitive strength as a new dimension of working class study provides a pluralist analytical framework for the study of Chinese labour. The new Chinese working class are better educated and more individualised with three main characteristics - occupation-based, precarious, and conservative - which distinguish them from the older generations of workers who had a clear group identification, such as the SOE workers in the 1990s, and the rural migrant workers in the 2000s. These theoretical and empirical findings open up possibilities of new strategies for effective labour organisation that should be considered by labour NGOs, civil society and the government. These players not only need to manage the working class action carefully, but also need to better understand the workers’ complex cognitive situations.</p>

Formal Models of International Political Economy

This chapter examines how scholars use formal models to study International Political Economy (IPE). This small, but important, body of research revolves around three substantive research questions. First, scholars have asked: how do states promote international trade by reducing tariffs and non-tariff barriers? Second, they ask: how do states encourage foreign investment by making binding pledges to protect foreign investors? Finally, scholars have studied: how do states stabilize and grow their economies? For each of these topics, the chapter looks back at past findings from formal models. It then discusses how IPE scholars can profitably move forward in their future research on these important topics.

Wildcat or Lion? Inequality, Agency, and the New Chinese Working Class

<p>The study of Chinese labour politics has returned to the centre of scholarly interest as China has increasingly become involved in global production and trade. As the incidence of labour dispute and workers’ strikes continued to soar, ubiquitous cases of labour rights abuse have been widely reported by international media and academics. The literature of Marxist international political economy has long predicted the insurgency of the Chinese working class resulting from rising inequality, global capital movement and labour division. In contrast, traditional Chinese labour studies are inconclusive as to whether the Chinese working class has gained enough class consciousness to become a cohesive agent for social and political change. This research examines how rising economic, social and political inequalities have impacted on the Chinese working class’s agency. The research shifts the focus from top-down structural analysis to workers’ agency itself, with an emphasis on their cognitive strength. The research was undertaken via a two-case comparative study of the Chinese working class in four megacities and four smaller cities. Data came mostly from statistics and field interviews. This two-case comparative study concludes that, overall, the Chinese working class had a weak behavioural strength, as manifested by inconsistent wildcat-style strikes, which had no clear political strategies. This research also concludes that the working class’s cognitive agency is weak and conservative, as manifested by a weak class identification, their poor understanding of democracy, their low willingness to participate in collective action, and their weak sense of class solidarity. I argue that inequalities and capital movement do not have a simple and unidirectional relationship with the working class’s collective agency. On the one hand, inequalities and capital movement can arouse the working class’s behavioural strength quickly. On the other hand, workers’ cognitive strength is more inert and does not correspond neatly to these two factors. The research findings show that the megacities are more economically developed, with higher inequalities, but with considerably weaker and more conservative working class agency; whereas the smaller cities are less economically developed, with lower inequalities, but with less weak and conservative working class agency. The addition of cognitive strength as a new dimension of working class study provides a pluralist analytical framework for the study of Chinese labour. The new Chinese working class are better educated and more individualised with three main characteristics - occupation-based, precarious, and conservative - which distinguish them from the older generations of workers who had a clear group identification, such as the SOE workers in the 1990s, and the rural migrant workers in the 2000s. These theoretical and empirical findings open up possibilities of new strategies for effective labour organisation that should be considered by labour NGOs, civil society and the government. These players not only need to manage the working class action carefully, but also need to better understand the workers’ complex cognitive situations.</p>

6. International Political Economy: Marxism, Mercantilism, Liberalism

This chapter examines the three most important classical theories within the field of International Political Economy (IPE): mercantilism, economic liberalism, and neo-Marxism. It considers the relationship between politics and economics, and between states and markets in world affairs, that IR has to be able to grasp. It suggests that IPE is about wealth, poverty, and power, about who gets what in the international economic and political system. The outlook of mercantilism has much in common with realism, while economic liberalism is an addition to liberalism. Mercantilism and economic liberalism thus represent views on IPE that are basically realist and liberal. The chapter concludes with a discussion about the original theoretical position of Marxism and how this has inspired neo-Marxist IPE theories.