Double Paradox: Rapid Growth and Rising Corruption in China

Talk by Professor Wedeman, Georgia State University

Thursday, April 17, 2014
4:00 PM - 5:30 PM
Bunche Hall 10383
CA

Between 1980 and 2010, China experienced an economic boom which saw per capita Gross Domestic Product increase an astounding 700-plus percent. At the same time, corruption exploded, infecting not only grassroots cadres but officials at the senior levels of government and in the party. Conventional wisdom holds that corruption decreases economic growth rates. In his talk, Professor Wedeman seeks to explain how China could have experienced rising corruption and yet also enjoy rapid economic growth.

Andrew Wedeman received his doctorate in Political Science from the University of California, Los Angeles. He is a Professor of Political Science at Georgia State University, where he heads the China Studies Program. Prior to this appointment, he was a Professor of Political Science at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and has held posts as a visiting research professor at Beijing University, a Visiting Associate Professor of Political Science at the Johns Hopkins-Nanjing University Center for Sino-American Studies, and a Fulbright Research Professorship at Taiwan National University. His publications include Double Paradox: Rapid Growth and Rising Corruption in China and From Mao to Market: Rent Seeking, Local Protectionism, and Marketization in China. He has authored articles in academic journals including China Quarterly, Journal of Contemporary China; and China Review; as well as chapters in numerous edited volumes. Professor Wedeman is now beginning a new book project examining social unrest in China and its connection to corruption.

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