Harvard on China: The apologetics of imperialism

Origins and Evolution of a Geographical Idea

“…In several ways, it reflected the paradigm shifts of its era. By the 1980s, the call for a "China-centered" history had taken hold in reaction to previous paradigms, especially those that concentrated on Chinese society in relation to the West-the "impact-response" approach to Chinese history (Esherick, 1972). China scholars looking for new approaches found alternatives in local social and economic history, as the macroregion became the dominant new paradigm.…”

“…I conclude not only that the macroregion analysis of the southeast coast did not, pace Paul Cohen (1984), "discover" local history but also that this application foregrounded the significance of the treaty ports and the dualisms of tradition and modernity characteristic of what Esherick (1972) has labeled the "impact-response" approach to Chinese historiography. While the macroregion model served to shift attention from the imperial to the local level and to regional history, and while it provided some alternatives to research perspectives dominated by modernization theory, promoted as the sole approach to studying regional history, it has proved limiting: it does not aid in understanding human processes and their variation that underlie urbanization and regional formation, especially social and cultural practices, long-distance trade, and associated economic activities.…”

The Western Representation of Modern China: Orientalism, Culturalism and Historiographical Criticism

“…No entrarem a valorar aquí els fonaments d'aquest debat, que malgrat la manipulació política a què està sotmès pot permetre reflexionar sobre algunes qüestions 12. Entre els primers crítics de l'enfocament imperialista podem destacar les aportacions de Nathan (1972), Esherick (1973) o Lassek (1983, que publiquen Entre els primers crítics de l'enfocament imperialista podem destacar les aportacions de Nathan (1972), Esherick (1973) o Lassek (1983, que publiquen diversos articles a la revista Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars, la qual va néixer precisament com a reacció contra les principals institucions nord-americanes de recerca sobre els països de l'Àsia oriental. 13.…”

International Links and the Socioeconomic Development of Rural China

“…This world systems thesis has, in turn, led to a critical re-examination by other scholars (for example, Lall and Streeten, 1977;Bierstaker, 1978;Vernon,1977;Gillis et al,1983) of the historical and present impact of multinational corporations on the socioeconomic development of Third World countries. In the case of China, there have been heated debates over the impact of foreign imperialism on internal development during the pre-1949 period (for example, Cohen, 1984;Esherick, 1972;Elvin, 1973;Hou, 1960;Murphey, 1974;Myers, 1970;Nathan, 1972;Perkins, 1975;Huang, 1980;Thomas, 1984;Wright, 1986). However, comparatively little scholarly work has been written on the effect of foreign contact on the socioeconomic development of China since its &dquo;re-opening&dquo; in the 1980s (for example, Ho and Huenemann, 1984;Oke, 1986;Lardy, 1987).…”