When State-Led Development Plans Fail: Rethinking the State-in-Society Approach

Wen Xie, Peking University

Since the 1980s, scholars have emphasized the role of the state when explaining variations in development outcomes across countries (e.g., Johnson 1982; Amsden 1989; Evans 1995; Cohn 2016). Yet, these accounts have a reductive view of society, viewing it as a mere residual category in the development process. In doing so, they overlook the fact that development is a participatory process involving common social actors’ pursuits to improve their lives. A similar gap is reflected in studies of China's development. Since the market reforms initiated in the late 1970s, China has transformed itself from a centrally planned to a more market-based economy. In the process, it has grown to become the world’s second largest economy. Existing research has emphasized the role of an autonomous and capable state in China’s successful economic development (Walder 1995; Zhao 2009). However, although the state was effective in many of the developmental policies, the Northeast region in China became the “Chinese rust belt” during market reform, and the state-led revitalization policies did not successfully boost the region's economy either. The Northeastern case suggests that we need to pay attention to local populations’ participation in, and responses to, development opportunities created by state-led reforms. Little research has addressed the social underpinnings of such participation. This article examines the role of social contexts in shaping patterned development activities during China’s shift from a planned to a market-based economy. I develop an alternative sociological explanation that links patterns of development to the social constellation of the region where it occurs. I propose that the local contexts condition what kind of development is considered appropriate for the locals to pursue under the space created by the state.

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 Presented in Session 14. (Dis)assembling the State: New Approaches to Studying State and Society