The Idea of Governance and the Spirit of Chinese Neoliberalism

This book offers a critical assessment of governance ideas in the context of Chinese neoliberalism. It argues that the Chinese version of governance has emerged as an important discursive practice in the articulation of the neoliberal spirit of the national reform agenda. The book first examines the institutional and intellectual background of governance ideas, capturing the key features of neoliberalization in transitional China. The main body of investigation is an interpretive analysis of governance in terms of its normative principles and technical skills, which effectively package the mature neoliberal vision and reality so that it indicates the dominant ruling structure of Chinese neoliberalism. The subsequent analysis presents a genealogical review of governance discourse and traces its adaptation to local neoliberal experiments. The book concludes with reflections on possible ways of critical engagement with governance ideas and with the intellectual aspects of neoliberalism.

Dr. Quan Li is Assistant Professor at Sun Yat-sen University's Department of Political Science at the School of Government, as well as Research Fellow at the Centre for Chinese Public Administration Research in the same institution, and is one of the rising stars in the academic study of Chinese politics and government.