
China's Uncertain Future
Jean-Luc Domenach(Author)
Columbia University Press
Published on 4. November 2014
Book
Paperback/Softback
208 pages
978-0-231-15225-9 (ISBN)
Description
Based on his experience as a scholar and diplomat stationed in China, Jean-Luc Domenach consults a wealth of archival and contemporary materials to examine China's place in the world. A sympathetic yet critical observer, Domenach brings his intimate knowledge of the country to bear on a range of crucial issues, such as the growth (or deterioration) of China's economy, the government's ever-delayed democratization, the potential outcomes of a national political crisis, and the possible escalation of a revamped authoritarianism. Domenach ultimately reads China's current progress as a set of easy accomplishments presaging a more difficult era of development. His finely nuanced analysis captures the difficult decisions now confronting China's elite, who are under tremendous pressure to support an economy based on innovation and consumption, establish a political system based on law and popular participation, rethink their national identity and spatial organization, and define a more positive approach to the world's problems.
These leaders are also besieged by corruption among their ranks, an increasingly restless urban population, and a sharp decline in the country's demographic growth. Domenach taps into these anxieties and the attempt to alleviate them, revealing a China much less confident and secure than many would believe.
These leaders are also besieged by corruption among their ranks, an increasingly restless urban population, and a sharp decline in the country's demographic growth. Domenach taps into these anxieties and the attempt to alleviate them, revealing a China much less confident and secure than many would believe.
Reviews / Votes
Now that the world's most populous country has ceased to be an abstraction... French books are suddenly among the most down-to-earth. The latest is Jean-Luc Domenach's excellent La Chine m'inquiete, written after his stay in the country from 2002 to 2007. Through a hailstorm of statistics, an outline of contemporary China appears... Domenach has a sharp nose for Chinese paradoxes. Times Literary Supplement This is the best general introduction to contemporary China I have read. Written for the layman in a lively, engaging style, China's Uncertain Future is grounded in solid scholarship and benefits from the perceptive eye of one of Europe's leading China experts. -- David A. Palmer, author of Qigong Fever: Body, Science, and Utopia in China Informed, accessible, engaging... highly recommended. Choice Domenach's in-depth exploration of the complex issues facing China makes this a welcome addition to the literature. Asian Studies ReviewMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 210 mm
Width: 140 mm
Weight
255 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-231-15225-9 (9780231152259)
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Schweitzer Classification
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China's Uncertain Future
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China's Uncertain Future
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12/2012
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Persons
Jean-Luc Domenach is research director at Centre d'Etudes et de Recherche Internationales (CERI). He lived in Tokyo from 1970 to 1972 and served as the French cultural attache in Hong Kong from 1976 to 1978. A former policy analyst at the Policy Planning Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, former director of CERI, and former vice president for research at Sciences Po, he spent five years in Beijing, where he created and led the Antenne Franco-Chinoise de Sciences Humaines et Sociales at Tsinghua University. Domenach is a regular columnist for Ouest-France, a member of the editorial board of Vingtieme siecle, and a correspondent for L'Histoire, as well as a regular contributor to Politique internationale, Critique internationale, Pacific Review, and Asia Europe Journal.
Content
Acknowledgments Introduction: The New "Chinese Moment" Book I. Measure for Measure 1. The Regime's New Foundations 2. In a New World 3. The Magnitude and Weaknesses of Growth Book II. The Acid Test 4. Explanation 5. The Acceleration of History Book III. The Great Riddles of the Future 6. Can China Be Governed? 7. One People? 8. Will China Finally Discover the World? 9. What Does China Want? Conclusion: China's Great Challenge Afterword: China Moves Toward a Consumer Economy List of Abbreviations Notes Bibliography Index
Read the chapter, "Can China Be Governed?" (to view in full screen, click on icon in bottom right-hand corner)