China in perspective

Professor David Goodman, Professor of Chinese Politics at the University of Sydney, will speak about Chinese perspectives on globalisation at Leeds on 1 February 2012.

The rapid economic growth of the People's Republic of China since 1978 has placed that country at the centre of many other countries' agendas for globalisation and its challenges. There are three dominant public beliefs about China's economic development, history, and cultural composition:

• that China has been 'rising' during the last three decades
• that China as a state has a long history
• that there is a high degree of social and cultural homogeneity amongst the Chinese.
  

Each of these beliefs assists in the understanding of China's development and place in the world. At the same time, Professor Goodman will suggest, there are alternative interpretations that result from taking a longer term historical perspective on these same issues. This longer term perspective suggests a more complex role for China in the future of globalisation, as well as for the development of the Chinese state.

The lecture, which is the first Worldwide Universities Network Contemporary China Centre annual lecture, will take place on 1 February at 6pm for a 6.30pm start in the Yorkshire Bank Lecture Theatre, Leeds University Business School.

Book a place at the lecture