Transcript New African choices? The politics of Chinese engagement in

New African choices?
The politics of Chinese engagement in Africa
and the changing architecture of international
development
Giles Mohan (Open University)
Marcus Power (University of Durham)
Outline
• introduction
• towards a postcolonial political
economy of China in Africa
• geopolitical traditions and
development co-operation
• the politics of class and race
• democratisation, rights discourses
& the contemporary politics of aid
• conclusions
introduction
• China as imperial power, an
imperial relationship?
• China as once a victim of
colonial aggression
• Sympathies and support for
anti-colonialism in Africa
• Neo-colonialism disguised as
‘south-south’ development?
• “as if there were relationships
between two countries
instead of between one &
fifty-three” (Chan, 2007: 2).
A post-colonial political economy of China in
Africa
• Simplistic, racialised readings of
Sino-African relations
• Journalistic and broad-brush
coverage, exotica as hallmark
• Lack of case studies, nuance,
disaggregation and empirical detail
• A surfeit of poor & tentative
scholarship, not grounded in
particular contexts or political
economies
• Media discourses and Orientalism
• Constructed imaginaries of ‘Africa’
& ‘China’
A post-colonial political economy of China in Africa
• China’s ‘scramble for Africa’,
‘African safari’, ‘resource grab’
• China as monolithic ‘beast’
(‘enter the dragon’) with
insatiable appetite
• Lack of sociological nuance in
discussing the ‘Chinese’ in Africa
• China’s corporate engagement
with Africa & the ‘China inc.’
model often exaggerated
• China as exceptional, as
impervious to western logics of
rationality, humanitarianism &
‘development’
• China’s ‘rogue aid’
A post-colonial political economy of China in
Africa
• Combinations of critical political
economy and aspects of postcolonial theory
• state-capital dynamics & class
forces combined with
deconstructive method &
decentering of ‘the West’
• Changing class and racial
dynamics of Chinese economic
engagement
• A genealogy of China’s historical
engagement, a critical geopolitics
of China’s enunciation of
‘development’
A post-colonial political economy of China in
Africa
• Decentring ‘western’ accounts of
China in Africa, making space for
other voices and perspectives
• Deconstructing the official
discourses of the Chinese state
• multiple commonalities between
the agendas & policies of
‘developed’ western states & those
of China
• Understanding less visible
exchanges (commodity flows,
education partnerships, creation of
new political & economic elites)
Geopolitical traditions and development co-operation
• 1950s, focus on Afro-Asian
solidarity, shared history, common
enemies, exporting revolution from
China to ‘Africa’
• Rhetorical unity of ‘third world’
post-Bandung, focus on SouthSouth co-operation for development,
‘camouflage tactics’ (Snow, 1995)
• Cold war context, ideology &
geopolitics, confrontation with the
U.S (1950s/60s) & U.S.S.R
(1960s/70s)
• Non-alignment, neo-colonialism &
China’s diplomatic offensive against
hegemonism
Geopolitical traditions and development co-operation
• Countering the international
recognition of Taiwan, building a
‘third world alliance’ in Africa
• Principles for aid and co-operation
reflected China’s own experience as
an aid recipient with ‘client’ status
• Aid programmes aimed to ‘show up
the North’ (Snow, 1995)
• ‘Missionary’ like convictions of
being morally ‘right’, production of
distance from ‘western’ approaches
• Preaching the gospels of nationalism
& independence but African leaders
knew little about China
Geopolitical traditions and development co-operation
• Aid given as grant, strictly
bilateral, Chinese aid workers did
not “loll in hotel suites & run up
expenses as other expatriates did”
(Snow, 1995)
• Aid as a means of exposing the
limitations of China’s opponents,
reluctance to co-ordinate with other
donors
• China happy to work on projects
that were inessential monuments to
the glory of African regimes they
worked with
• Tazara as a symbol of Afro-Asian
solidarity
Geopolitical traditions and development co-operation
• Ideological inflections of foreign policy
diluted in favour of flexible, differentiated
and proactive stance
• Post-Mao focus on modernisation, access to
foreign markets, capital & technology
• Search for new commercial engagements
that would strengthen the PRC economy
• Post-Tiananmen re-evaluation of foreign
policy, focus on access to energy resources,
efforts to counter US hegemonism
• China’s rhetoric of non-aligned, socialist
‘brotherhood’ remains but its geo-strategic
interests have changed dramatically.
Geopolitical traditions and development co-operation
• China’s renewed interest in Africa is not much
different from those of the ‘Western’ powers,
namely to advance the class power of its elites
• Will China’s engagement with Africa radically
alter Africa’s ‘extraverted’ relationship to the
global economy?
• Resource diplomacy, ‘soft power’ & support
for China in multilateral agencies
• Chinese aid provides leverage for African
states in multi-polar world?
• FOCAC meetings, China-Africa Development
Fund, Trade and Economic co-operation zones
in Africa, China’s Africa Strategy (2006)
The politics of class and race
• Need to disaggregate the
potential costs and benefits of
Chinese trade and investment
and how these are manifested in
terms of wealth accumulation
and class composition
• Work exists on complementary
and competitive relations
between China and Africa
• Some work on ethnic networks
through which transnational
enterprises operate
Class and race politics
• Evidence that a Chinese
merchant class has emerged
in some countries
• Beginning to organise is
through organisations like
chambers of commerce
• Competition from China can
increase African
unemployment
• May erode the support base
of organised labour
New cultural politics
• Chinese have always
played an ‘intermediary’
role
• Not ‘White’, but also
‘non-black’
• Race relations okay, but
varies with impact on the
local economy
• In some cases local
politicians have played the
anti-China card
Democratisation, rights discourses and the
contemporary politics of aid
• Political effects will be conditioned
by the nature of China’s interests,
the modes of engagement, and the
political systems operating in the
African country concerned.
• Most African leaders share an
uncritical openness to China
• Very little internal debate, either in
China or African countries, about
the efficacy and impacts of China’s
Africa policy
The politics of aid
• Chinese aid still
predominantly bilateral
despite commitment to aid
coordination.
• ‘Rights-based’ development
become major ideological
battleground
• Tensions between
bilateralism and
multilateralism/panAfricanism
Conclusions – emerging issues and
methodological priorities
 Greater involvement
in capacity building
and governance
 Tentative
multilateralism
 Need for grounded
research to appreciate
context/difference
 Need to hear more
African voices in
debates