Alexander Linyu Qian Chen defends his PhD thesis at the Department of Sociology

Alexander Linyu Qian ChenCandidate

Alexander Linyu Qian Chen, Department of Sociology, University of Copenhagen

Title

Variegated capitalism with Chinese characteristics: 
The Spatial Division(s) of Labor between China’s Coastal and Inland Regions from the Open Door Policy to the New Normal

Assessment Committee

  • Associate professor Mikael Carleheden, Department of Sociology, University of Copenhagen (chair)
  • Senior Lecturer Kean Fan Lim, Centre for Urban and Regional Development Studies, Newcastle University, UK
  • Research Fellow Steve Rolf, Digital Futures at Work Research Centre, University of Sussex, UK

Host

Head of the PhD Programme Bente Halkier

Time and place

28 October 2022, 1:00 PM
University of Copenhagen, Faculty of Social Sciences
Øster Farimagsgade 5, 1353 Copenhagen K, CSS 1.1.02.

The thesis is available at Academic Books as an e-book. Prior to the defence; a paper copy of the dissertation is available for reading at the Department of Sociology, room 16.1.40.

After the defence, the department will host a reception in room 16.1.62 at approx. 4 pm.

Summary

This PhD dissertation has examined how the Chinese capitalist state has systematically enforced the developmental gap between China’s coastal and inland regions by forming a spatial division of labor.

Based on a historical-comparative research design, the dissertation examines how this spatial division of labor was realized during the Open Door Policy (1978-2013) and the New Normal (2014-2022) through an ensemble of complementary, occasionally contradictory, and interlocking state spatial strategies.

The findings showcase the proactive role of the Chinese capitalist state in integrating state institutions, regulatory structures, and policy regimes to promote the functional specialization of the coastal and inland regions in global production networks, buttressed by the formation of networked spaces of labor circulation and logistical integration.