Institutional Genes: Totalitarianism in China

In this talk, Professor Chenggang Xu will characterise the contemporary fundamental institution of China as Regionally Decentralized Totalitarianism (RDT).

This system has its roots in the imported Soviet communist totalitarian system and the Chinese imperial system, as well as its evolution since the inception of the People's Republic of China (PRC) era. To analyse China's institutional evolution more comprehensively, Professor Xu will introduce an analytical concept, "institutional genes."

These are self-reproducing basic structures of key institutional elements such as power structures, resource allocation mechanisms, and prevailing social beliefs. His goal is to explain why China's institutions have evolved in the way that we have observed, and to predict how they will continue to evolve in the future.

Video recording

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About the speaker

Chenggang Xu is a Senior Research Scholar at Stanford Center on China’s Economy and Institutions and Visiting Fellow at Hoover Institution of Stanford University; and a research fellow of the CEPR (Center for Economic Policy Research).

Over the past three decades, prior to his current roles, he has held teaching positions at the University of Hong Kong, LSE and Tsinghua. His research focuses on political economics, institutional economics and Chinese political economics. He obtained PhD in Economics from Harvard University in 1991.

Chair: Professor Steve Tsang, Director, SOAS China Institute

Registration

This webinar will take place online via Zoom.

Organiser

• SOAS China Institute

Contact

• Email: sci@soas.ac.uk

Image credit: Harrison Qi on Unsplash