The 'Chinese Political Model': Articulation, Dissemination and Negotiation in Cambodia and Bangladesh
The project aims to study the dissemination of the so-called ‘Chinese political model’ in Asia by examining how it is transmitted by Chinese political actors and how it is perceived, negotiated, and possibly reconfigured by local actors. China’s rise as a de facto global superpower has raised numerous concerns and triggered anxieties, particularly in Western democratic countries, but also in Asia. This has been further exacerbated recently by the apparent retreat of the United States from the liberal-democratic, rules-based world order.
The project will focus on two Asian countries that consider themselves relatively small and therefore vulnerable: Cambodia and Bangladesh. These two countries have very different experiences with China (Cambodia being practically a ‘vassal state’; Bangladesh on the cusp of stronger relations with Beijing). The approach will be threefold:
- How China/the Chinese Communist Party understands 'the Chinese model';
- How the model is transmitted;
- How the model is understood, negotiated, and/or appropriated by Cambodian or Bangladeshi actors.
Project coordinator
- Arild Engelsen Ruud, Professor, South Asia studies, Dept. of Culture, Religion, Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Oslo.
Network members
France
- Chloé Froissart, Professor of history and political sociology, department of Chinese studies, Inalco, Paris.
Sweden
- Astrid Norén-Nilsson, Senior Lecturer in the Study of Contemporary South-East Asia, Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies, Lund University.
