Political economy of socialism with Chinese characteristics: on the issue of intra- and interdisciplinary synthesis

Abstract

Objective: to show the ontological potential of interdisciplinarity and paradigmatic pluralism in economic research by the example of the Chinese-specific socialism model and its description in Western socio-political discourse.Methods: qualitative methods (discourse analysis, comparative analysis, generalization).Results: the work shows the features of the discourse in modern economic theory regarding the problems of intra- and interdisciplinary synthesis. The economic mainstream, claiming the accuracy of its method of creating scientific knowledge, can and does become the basis of political knowledge and ideological judgments. Describing certain aspects of reality, the mainstream normalizes them, and sometimes elevates them to the rank of a rule. Based on the analysis of the Chinese model of economic reforms, the article shows that in Western socio-political and scientific discourses regarding this model, both at the stage of their beginning and now, there are erroneous ideas and expectations about the purpose, content and results of the reform process. The root cause of this false perception is, assumingly, the disciplinary isolation of economics, as economics is considered to be a universal extrapolitical and extra-cultural constant. To confirm this thesis, the main stages of the transformation of the ideology of building the Chinese economic model, its transition from an anti-market and anticapitalist position to a Chinese-specific socialism model are considered. It is shown that among the trajectories of China’s future development, Western economists and politicians saw only the two main ones: creeping liberalization and limiting the influence of the state in the Chinese economy, accompanied by democratization of the political sphere, on the one hand, and reaching the limits of economic growth possible for countries with authoritarian institutions, on the other. However, the collective action factor ignored by researchers has formed a stable growth economy, not accompanied by political liberalization.Scientific novelty: consists in comprehending the discourses about the Chinese economy as a result of the challenge posed by the Chinese reforms to mainstream political economy.Practical significance: the provisions and conclusions of the research can be further used to study the influence of economic theory on socio-political discourses and political decisions.