Liberalism and Chinese Economic Development

'The book provides conceptual tools to reach an answer within a Chinese environment, both Confucian and firmly ruled by the Chinese Communist Party. The underlying tension among these factors makes the book’s analysis uniquely wide-ranging.' — Aix-Marseille School of Economics

‘Liberalism and Chinese Economic Development’ is a multidisciplinary and multi-sided book, centered on a number of questions that are rarely posed with respect to the future ‘destiny’ of such an extraordinary experience in industrialization and development. In her review of the book Stefania Jaconis analyses the connections brought out by the authors (economists and political scientists, philosophers as well as specialists in Eastern Studies) of the various chapters, which together construct a powerful portrait of contemporary China and of its multi-faceted transition. One of the connections is that between neo-Confucianism and democratization - the final point (perhaps) along the line of acceptance of economic liberalism. Jaconis notes how, like many others, this connection cannot be grasped without previous knowledge of what ‘individualism’ means in the historic and cultural context of Eastern Asia, and of its difference from the analogous Western concept. In her view, the book proves that disciplines like history and history of culture are necessary to evaluate events that are never purely ‘economic’, like China’s reaction to the recent global crisis.’ — Stefania Jaconis, Eticaeconomia, 15th February 2017, (http://www.eticaeconomia.it), Italy.