The Transformative Potential of Fragmented Authoritarianism: The Future of Capitalism and Democracy in China

Abstract

The lecture reflects upon the nature of Chinese authoritarianism and argues that the core process of political and economic change in China is state-building in the longue duree. In particular, this involves the interaction between the central and the local state. The market is a means to shift political power to the center. Hence, marketization and growing centralization play together in China, resulting into the stabilization of authoritarianism. Political change will come along with the rapid urbanization process which triggers the growth of civil society in the local states.