Economic and Cultural History - Interpretation
another short list -
Yuri Pines – Professor of Chinese history at Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Many papers are available at Academia site - Yuri Pines Author of The Everlasting Empire: the Political Culture of Ancient China and its Imperial Legacy Everlasting Empire
Walter Scheidel - Professor of humanities and classics at Stanford. Author of Rome and China: comparative perspectives on ancient world empires. University site Working papers are at Scheidel working papers Sample work - The Xiongnu and the comparative study of empire Version 1.0. Princeton/Stanford Working Papers in Classics, September 2010; and The First Great Divergence. Princeton/Stanford Working Papers in Classics. Version 1.0 October, 2007. I know these are working papers; but published versions are blocked in China. and Walter Scheidel, ed. Rome and China – Comparative Perspectives on Ancient World Empires. Oxford University Press, 2009. Rome and China
Peter Turchin – developed theory of large state formation at borders of Asian steppe - A Theory for Formation of Large Empires. Journal of Global History, 2009:4, pages 191-217. Available Large Empires
Joel Mokyr – Robert Strotz Professor of economic history at Northwestern. Prolific author, known mostly for describing the intellectual and institutional factors in economic growth and technological change. The big idea for our purposes is the Republic of Letters, the informal associations that flourished in Europe in the Enlightenment and did not do so in Ming or Qing China.
University site Latest book – A Culture of Growth – The Origins of the Modern Economy Culture of Growth
Mark Elvin – Professor emeritus at Australian National University University site Noted for the concept of the high level equilibrium trap to explain lack of modern Chinese development. Sample work - The Pattern of the Chinese Past, Stanford University Press, 1973 Pattern of the Chinese Past On the trap - High Level Equilibrium Trap
Avner Greif - Professor of Economics at Stanford. Perhaps best known for work on generalized and particularized trust in trade, a la the Maghribi traders. Student of Joel Mokyr’s. Sample work – (with Guido Tabellini) The Clan and the City: Sustaining Cooperation in China and Europe. Most papers available on his web site, Greif Papers
Kenneth Pomeranz – Professor of modern Chinese history at University of Chicago. Sample work - The Great Divergence: China, Europe, and the Making of the Modern World Economy Great Divergence and The Great Himalayan Watershed- Agrarian Crisis, Mega-Dams and the Environment. New Left Review 58, July-August 2009 Himalayan Watershed
Andre Gunder Frank – Economic historian and sociologist, writer on world systems theory. A prolific author, but probably best known in the US for ReOrient: Global Economy in the Asian Age Reorient
David Landes – Professor of economics and history at Harvard University. Sample work - The Wealth and Poverty of Nations: Why Some Are So Rich and Some So Poor. W.W. Norton, 1998.
Angus Maddison – economist at University of Groningen, noted for calculations of GDP and GDP per capital in countries in the world over centuries. Sample work - Chinese Economic Performance in the Long Run. Development Center Studies, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 1998 Chinese Economic Performance in the Long Run
Martin King Whyte University site Known for series of surveys of Chinese documenting attitudes toward inequality and justice. Clarified the “social volcano” theory of CCP decline to reflect injustice rather than simple wealth gap. Social Volcano Sample work - Sub-optimal Institutions but Superior Growth: The Puzzle of China's Economic Boom." In China's Economic Dynamics: A Beijing Consensus in the Making?, eds. J. Li and L. M. Wang, 15-47. London: Routledge, 2014. Available Suboptimal Institutions
R. Bin Wong – Distinguished Professor of History at UCLA and former director of the Asia Institute. Comparative political and economic history. Author of China Transformed – Historical Change and the Limits of European Experience University site
Kent Deng – Associate Professor at the London School of Economics. University site Describes the relation of Chinese public to private in micro and macro terms throughout dynastic history. Sample work -Nation, State and the Economy in History. London: LSE Research Online, 2003. Nation, State, and the Economy Latest book - Mapping China’s Growth and Development in the Long Run, 221 BC to 2020 Mapping China's Growth
Victoria Tin-bor Hui - Associate Professor of Political Science at University of Notre Dame. Sample popular work - How China Was Ruled. The American Interest, 3:4 , March 1, 2008, Available at How China Was Ruled School web page University site Her blog about the Hong Kong umbrella movement is at Hong Kong Umbrella movement
Debin Ma – Professor of Economic History at the London School of Economics. Concentration in economics in the Qing dynasty. University site Sample work - Rock, Scissors, Paper and Political Institutions and Long Run Economic Trajectory: Some Lessons from Two Millennia of Chinese Civilization. Center for Economic Policy Research, Discussion Paper Series No. 8791. January, 2012. Lessons from Two Millennia
Peter Bol – Bol has taught Chinese intellectual history at Harvard for many years and is one of the teachers of the popular ChinaX course on the HarvardX site. University site
Nathan Sivin - taught history of science in China and made significant contributions to the Joseph Needham multi-volume, multi-decade series, Science and Civilization in China. Sample work - Comparing Greek and Chinese Philosophy and Science. Chapter 1 in Medicine, Philosophy and Religion in Ancient China. Variorum, 1995. Reprinted online at Science and Civ - chapter 1
Barry Naughton - Chair of Chinese International Relations at University of California-San Diego. University site Author of The Chinese Economy – Transition and Growth, an excellent introduction to modern China. A new edition is available. Sample work - Economic Policy in the Aftermath of the 19th Party Congress. China Leadership Monitor, Winter, 2018. Aftermath of 19th Party Congress
David Shambaugh - Professor of Political Science at George Washington University. Author of China's Communist Party: Atrophy and Adaptation, the best description of the internal workings of CCP.
Chris Buckley interview with Shambaugh at Sinocism -
Shannon Tiezzi interview with Shambaugh at the Diplomat -
Richard McGregor – former Beijing and Washington bureau chief for the Financial Times. Author of The Party: The Secret World of China's Communist Rulers, HarperCollins, 2010
River Elegy - A six-part documentary on the decline of traditional Chinese culture. China Central Television, June, 1988. Presented with English subtitles by Deep Dish Satellite TV Network. Highlights at River Elegy youtube Wiki - River Elegy wiki
