During the second half of the twentieth century the countries of East Asia saw one of the most remarkable transformations in human history, from relatively poor societies to global powerhouses of accumulation, proletarianisation and mega-urbanisation. This volume features Marxist scholars from East Asia and Europe who are pioneering a new approach to this transformation using the theory of state capitalism. The essays analyse the histories of countries on either side of the Cold War divide within the broader framework of twentieth century global capitalist expansion, while at the same time offering a sophisticated critique of Developmental State Theory. Contributors are: Tobias ten Brink, Gareth Dale, Jeong Seongjin, Michael Haynes, Kim Ha-young, Kim Yong-uk, Lee Jeong-goo, and Owen Miller

When the crucial years after the Korean War are remembered today, histories about North Korea largely recount a grand epic of revolution centering on the ascent of Kim Il Sung to absolute power. Often overshadowed in this storyline, however, are the myriad ways the Korean population participated in party-state projects to rebuild their lives and country after the devastation of the war. North Korea's Mundane Revolution traces the origins of the country's long-term durability in the questions that Korean women and men raised about the modern individual, housing, family life, and consumption. Using a wide range of overlooked sources, Andre Schmid examines the formation of a gendered socialist lifestyle in North Korea by focusing on the localized processes of socioeconomic and cultural change. This style of "New Living" replaced radical definitions of gender and class revolution with the politics of individual self-reform and cultural elevation, leading to a depoliticization of the country's political culture in the very years that Kim Il Sung rose to power.

The Chinese Communist Party’s response to the wave of factory strikes in the early summer of 2010 has raised important questions about the role that labour plays in the transformation of world orders. In contrast to previous policies of repression towards labour unrest, these recent disputes centring round wages and working conditions have been met with a more permissive response on the part of the state, as the CCP ostensibly seeks to facilitate a transition away from a model of political economy based on ‘low-road’ labour relations and export dependence. Labour and Development in East Asia shows that such inter-linkages between labour, geopolitical transformations, and states’ developmental strategies have been much more central to East Asia’s development than has commonly been recognised. By adopting an explanatory framework of the labour-geopolitics-development nexus, the book theorises and provides an historical analysis of the formation and transformation of the East Asian regional political economy from the end of the Second World War to the present, with particular reference to Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and China. This book will be required reading for students and scholars of international relations, development studies and comparative politics.

Since 1989, the postcommunist societies of Eastern Europe have been subject to policy advice and political and economic pressure which assumes that the development of 'free market' economies is the best route to economic growth and prosperity. The contributors to this volume take issue with this proposition. Though working from different theoretical perspectives, with different interests, they collectively argue that there are better ways to build dynamic and prosperous industrial economies in Eastern Europe than encouraging the respective societies of the region to ape the contents and swallow the myths of the Anglo-American form of capitalism. The contributors to this volume are among the leading authorities on economic transformation in Eastern Europe.

This volume contributes to an emerging field of Asian German Studies by bringing together cutting-edge scholarship from international scholars working in a variety of disciplines. The chapters survey transnational encounters between Germany and East Asia since 1900. By rejecting traditional dichotomies between the East and the West or the colonizer and the colonized, these essays highlight connectedness and hybridity. They show how closely Germany and East Asia cooperated and negotiated the challenges of modernity in a range of topics, such as politics, history, literature, religion, environment, architecture, sexology, migration, and sports.

'Incisive and insightful, analytic and synthetic, Jacques Hersh's excellent book is like a guide through the maze of modern times.' Stuart Holland, European University Institute, Florence. The book offers an interpretation of the international political economy focusing on the opportunities and constraints which the leading members of the capitalist system have to confront. Not disregarding the significance of the presently marginalised Third World, the underlying theme relates to the secular tendency of uneven development between major core nations. This trend accelerated during the era of US 'benevolent hegemony', resulting in the creation of surplus production capacity: a problem exacerbated by the growth of the NICs in East Asia.

This book is a history of the Asian region from 1945 to the present day which delineates the various ideological battles over Asia's development.

"This book describes how, after the end of World War II, powerful corporations began to lobby governments in an effort to reduce the perceived constraints of regulation. Since the 1970s these voices have become increasingly influential, as governments worldwide have adopted free-market policies, reduced economic regulation and promoted the virtues of free-enterprise capitalism." "The Global Economic System since 1945 presents a fresh synthesis of economic history and theory. For the specialist, it will provide a useful reminder that the economy needs to be looked at from different angles, while the general reader will find a fascinating and impartial description of the current state of the global economy - as well as hints on what to look for when scanning the economic horizon for signs of inclement weather."--BOOK JACKET.

In the new edition of this important contribution to understanding both the Asian economic miracle and the 1997-8 crisis, Richard Stubbs assesses the main explanations to date and updates the analysis to take account of globalization and the remarkable economic rise of China.

The increasing economic and political importance of East Asia in the global political economy requires a deeper analysis of the nature of the capitalist systems in this region than has been provided by the existing literature on comparative capitalisms. This volume brings together conceptual and empirical analyses of the evolving patterns of East Asian capitalism against the backdrop of regional and global market integration and periodic economic crises since the 1980s. Focusing on China, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Thailand, it provides an interdisciplinary account of variations, continuities, and changes in the institutional structures that govern financial systems, industrial relations, and product markets, and that shape the evolution of national political economies. While the volume encompasses a range of different cases, specific issues, and diverse methodologies, all the chapters address two dominant themes - the continuities and changes in the institutional underpinnings of capitalist development and the main driving forces behind them. The book thus provides an integrated analysis of how changing institutional practices in business, financial, and labour systems interact and affect the evolution of capitalist political economies in the region.