Call for Book Chapters: "Contradictions in Policy and Politics in the PRC"

Vernon Press invites book chapters for a forthcoming edited volume on the subject of “Contradictions in Policy and Politics in the PRC.”

Decades of unprecedented growth have launched China to the status of a world power, but China’s economy appears to be facing strong headwinds on many fronts. Given the preponderant role of the CCP in both economics and politics, it has been suggested not only that China defies traditional analyses which turn on the state/private dichotomy, but also that the world’s largest political party has a unique ability to manage crises as they arise.

In the outpouring of new literature on the rise of China, there is a strong tendency to attribute China’s growth trajectory to its embrace of neoliberal market principles, downplaying not only the still preponderant role of the state but also of the CCP. This edited volume will seek to explore the political economy of China by exploring the many apparent contradictions that have led it to this point, thus necessarily taking a dialectical approach to such questions as:

• Has China set itself on a unique growth trajectory? And if so, what are the defining features the so-called ‘Beijing Consensus’? What features are not unique?
• Capitalism’s soft underbelly is volatility: cyclical crises which can be severe. Has the CCP found a superior means of overcoming cyclical crises, or is China likely, at some point, to experience the same slowdown in growth as Japan entered in the early 1990s?
• Is a Leninist party overseeing a transition to free markets an anachronism or an asset?
• How does Marxist theory continue to inform economic management as well as politics at all levels in China? If China’s leaders continue to project that China is on a path to socialism or communism, what evidence supports this assessment and what outcomes can reasonably be expected? A deepening capitalism? A hybrid socialism? Or something else?
• What are the trade-offs to authoritarian single party rule in China? Unprecedented lockdowns since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic would appear to have kept rates of infection far lower than in Europe or North America. Yet recent protests suggest discontent and even dissent may be growing. And if we are seeing the beginning of a thaw, what are the implications?

Chapter proposal submission
Please submit an abstract no longer than 500 words in English or Mandarin to Michael Andrew Žmolek (volume editor), michael-zmolek@uiowa.edu, by August 1, 2023. The abstract should include a clear overview of the primary focus of the chapter and the different topics that will be addressed. In addition, please include a short biography (max. 100 words) of the author(s).

Deadlines:
Proposal submission deadline:  August 1, 2023
Acceptance of abstract sent out: September 15, 2023
Manuscript submission: February 15, 2024