A theory of dialectical transnational historical materialism for China’s state capitalism and the China–US rivalry

Abstract

A new cold war seems to be looming between China and the United States. The escalating China–US rivalry calls for a more dialectical theory of international political economy that captures conflict and disintegration as an integral part of capitalist globalisation. Kees van der Pijl’s and William Carroll’s critical realist approach towards the study of transnational corporations (TNCs) and transnational capitalist class (TCC) formation has incorporated the classical theory of uneven capitalist development and inter-imperialist rivalry into the scholarship of transnational historical materialism, which I argue is apt for explaining the China–US conflict: One is positioned as a Hobbesian contender and the other as the Lockean hegemon. To provide empirical grounding for my argument, I conduct a corporate network study to examine the interlocking directorates of 40 Chinese TNCs. In concordance with Carroll and colleagues’ studies, I find that the globalisation of Chinese TNCs and Chinese corporate elite has been modest and has not undermined or replaced the national base, nor does it signify a homogeneous TCC formation. My findings have also revealed an inextricable relationship between the Chinese TNCs and China’s party-state, or a Hobbesian character of state-organised capitalism.

Keywords:

• Corporate network research
• Chinese corporations
• transnational capitalist class
• international political economy
• de-globalisation
• China–US conflict

Acknowledgements

A substantial part of this article has been extracted from the thesis work I completed for my MA degree at the University of Victoria, Canada. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Professor William Carroll, Professor Martha McMahon and Professor Min Zhou for their invaluable advice and dedicated mentorship. I also extend my gratitude to the anonymous reviewers and editors of Third World Quarterly.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 The industry categories I use for the study are largely drawn from the Fortune list. It should be acknowledged that many of the multinationals are corporate conglomerates that have vast interests and investments in different industry sectors. CK Hutchison Holdings, for instance, has made profits from a wide range of sectors including retail (37%), telecoms (21%), infrastructure (14%) and Husky Energy (12%), according to its 2018 annual report. A company is assigned to the sector where most of its revenues come from.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

David Chen

David Chen is a PhD student in sociology at the University of Toronto. He has been working with Professor William Carroll at the University of Victoria as a member of the Corporate Mapping Project team since 2017. His research interests surround transnational corporations, corporate networks, international political economy (de-globalisation), political ecology, critical social theory and China. His research has been published in Science & Society and Canadian Political Science Review.