China in the Global South

This book scrutinizes the frequently ignored agency of Global South sub-national actors in their interactions with China, using a multidisciplinary approach and eleven case studies. Contributors examine Chinas presence in the Global South on a country-by-country basis, analyzing how various non-state and sub-state actors are responding to the rise of China and whether they are attracted by the cooperation models that China proposes or deterred by its new assertiveness. Contributions cover diverse and heterogeneous geographies of the Global South, ranging from Papua-New Guinea to Argentina and from Madagascar to the Russian Far East. Examining such diverse cases, contributors focus on two interrelated questions: What is the actual economic, political, and social impact of Chinas growing presence in the Global South? And, critically, how do the citizens of the Global South understand and interpret Chinas rise? Taken together, the case studies develop a comprehensive picture of a complex and sometimes problematic process of Chinas inclusion into the economic, social, and political realities of the Global South. This book identifies and fills the gaps in the existing literature on Chinas rise by offering a nuanced perspective on Chinas relations with the countries of the Global South that captures such variables as social context, intersubjective meanings, and identities. By focusing Chinas relations with the Global South, it also provides an important addition to the literature on international politics of development and Chinas role in the transformation of the South-South cooperation.