1. What is East (Northeast and Southeast) Asia?
Prof. Mark R. Thompson
Master of Arts in Modern Asian Studies
(MAMAS)
Dept. Asian and International Studies (AIS)
City University of Hong Kong
AIS5024: The State and Economy in East Asia
Lecture 1

2. Confucian Confusion in East Asia
East Asia sometimes includes just the “Confucian” countries
China, Japan, the Koreas, Taiwan, and Vietnam
But more generally includes non-Confucian “South East Asia”
ASEAN ten not Confucian except (supposedly) for Singapore and Chinese minorities in each country
Non-Confucian 9 + 1: Brunei, Cambodia, (East Timor), Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar/Burma, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam

3. What is “East Asia”? Different regime types ASEAN weak
Northeast Asia divided
Greater China v Japan, N. v. S. Korea, Taiwan/China, etc.
Arbitrary geography
Little common history or culture
Except traditional imperial China
And hated period Japanese rule (colonialism and WWII)
Not political, geographic, cultural or historical entity

4. “East Asia” across time
Time period
Characteristic
Pre-modern
Chinese empire and tributary states
Colonial
Divided by British, French, Dutch, American and Japanese colonialism
World War II
“Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Zone”, anti-colonial, pan-Asian ideology, discredited by Japanese war crimes
Cold War
-“Hot wars” in Korea and Vietnam, American strategy encourages growth to strengthen anti-communism;
-“tiger” economies helped by Japanese production alliance too
Post-Cold War
-Communist conversion to capitalism becomes possible: China then Vietnam but not North Korea (still Stalinist) but recently post-socialist Burma/Myanmar?
-Economic crisis ;
-China challenges Japanese leadership

5. World regions compared
Geography
History/
Culture
Association
Economic integration
Regime type
Europe
Clear to the West, fuzzy to the East
Strong but diverse
Strong (at least it once was): EU
Strong but weakening?
Mostly democratic (except Hungary, Poland, and of course Russia)
Latin America
Clear (south of U.S.)
Strong
Middle to weak: OAS
MERCOSOUR, middle
Mostly demo-cratic
Africa
Clear (though only in sub-Saharan region)
North vs south,
Tribalism
Weak to middle: OAU
weak
Mixed: new democracies and old authoritarians
Middle East
Fuzzy in North Africa, Iran
Strong, Islam/
Arabic
Middle to weak: both part of OAU and OIC
Mostly authoritarian, new demos
South
Asia
Relatively clear (except Myan-mar, Afhanistan)
Weak, conflictual
Weak
Democratic
East Asia
Arbitrary
Weak – diverse, few common roots
ASEAN +3: weak to medium
Informal, but growing
Mostly authoritarian but some new democracies

6. So what is East Asia?
Not geographical, cultural, historical or political
But it has become an economic region
“flying geese” of economies
Developmental states (Johnson)
Modular authoritarian “developmentalism”
Democracy only after development (sometimes!) – modernization theory

7. Developmental States
“Particular explanation” of NE Asian industrialization”
“Seemless web”
Political bureaucracy and money interests
Structured economic life in NE Asia
Derived from Johnson’s 1982 MITI book
“Plan rational”
Mercantilist strategy
Driven by nationalism

8. Developmentalism Economic strategy, But also political legitimation
and ideology
Collectivist and state interventionist
State defined goals EOI and rapid growth
Not free market, consumption-oriented
Conditions
Economic: interventionist state
Political: repressive state, “dev. Dictatorship”

9. Developmentalism II Justifies seizure state power for development
Justifies postponing democracy in its name
Initially involves despotic power
Power over society
But strives for infrastructural power
power through society (Michael Mann)
by sustained economic growth
and political control with limited coercion

10. Developmentalist “flying geese”*
Malaysia
(1969 emergency,
Mahathir’s PMship)
Thailand
( Sarit
military regime,
military rule )
China
(1979 Deng’s reforms)
South Korea
(1961, Park
regime)
Hong Kong
(British colony until 1997)
Japan
(mid-19th
Meiji restoration)
"Market-Leninism"
Southeast Asian
“tiger cubs”
Four “tigers”
Vietnam
(1986
“doi moi” reforms)
Taiwan
(1949,
KMT regime)
Singapore
(1961,
Lee-led
PAP regime)
Indonesia
( , Suharto regime)
Philippines
(1972, Marcos declares
martial law)

11. A more or less Moore-ian approach
Barrington Moore, Jr. (1966)
Different paths to the modern world
Democratic and authoritarian
Class coalitions crucial
Business dependent on developmentalist state
“labor repressive” regimes
The stronger developmentalism, the later democratization will occur (if at all)

12. A “reactionary coalition”
Coalition of civilian/civilianized powerholders,
Technocrats for bureaucratic-rationality
Close business associates (“cronies”)
lead industrialization and reduce transaction costs
Religious leaders provide traditionalist legitimacy
With labor demobilized and business dependent
who is there to oppose developmentalism?
Have to “wait” for the rise of middle class
But can also be co-opted by state

13. Democracy after growth?
“Driven by growth” narrative of modernizationists
But what has “driven” growth in Pacific Asia?
Developmental states pursuing “late industrialization”
Democracy delayed by developmental states
hindered not driven by growth”
Kaname Amatsu

14. What’s ahead (theoretically)
Next week: a look at economic development
Developmental states (state-led economic development)
Weak III: a look at the political implications of growth
Modernization theory (economic growth inevitably leads to democracy) OR
Authoritarian developmentalism (growth used to legitimize dictators and strengthens authoritarianism)