Compradors of China’s Global Power: The Colonialization of Hungarian and Nicaraguan Academia through Anti-imperialist Tropes

Abstract

Abstract Literature discussing imperialism and neo-colonial practices focuses on the alleged power of the West and/or the United States, as well as global neoliberalism. This article argues that neo-colonial knowledge production in the autocratizing regimes of Hungary and Nicaragua reflects the rising importance of China. It shows how both governments seek to set forth new schools of thought suiting their worldview. The People’s Republic of China serves as a narrative fix point for legitimizing dissociative diplomatic agendas via comprador academics supported by their government. In what is presented as changing global orders, China joins Russia as a new counterweight to the presupposed U.S. hegemonic and liberal interests. Besides advocating for new partners in the East, compradors colonializing academia argue for the distinctive needs of their respective nations represented by the government. Interviews, publications, and news reports allow one to reconstruct their colonialization efforts to support such nationalist narratives on China’s rise as a global power.