Book Launch: Mobilizing for Development by Kristen Looney
Mobilizing for Development tackles the question of how countries achieve rural development and offers a new way of thinking about East Asia’s political economy that challenges the developmental state paradigm. Through a comparison of Taiwan (1950s–1970s), South Korea (1950s–1970s), and China (1980s–2000s), Kristen E. Looney shows that different types of development outcomes—improvements in agricultural production, rural living standards, and the village environment—were realized to different degrees, at different times, and in different ways. She argues that rural modernization campaigns, defined as policies demanding high levels of mobilization to effect dramatic change, played a central role in the region and that divergent development outcomes can be attributed to the interplay between campaigns and institutions. The analysis departs from common portrayals of the developmental state as wholly technocratic and demonstrates that rural development was not just a byproduct of industrialization. Looney’s research is based on several years of fieldwork in Asia and makes a unique contribution by systematically comparing China’s development experience with other countries. Relevant to political science, economic history, rural sociology, and Asian Studies, the book enriches our understanding of state-led development and agrarian change.
Please join us on October 8, 2020 at 12:30pm EDT for a discussion with Professor Looney about her research. This event will be moderated by Professor Michael Green with opening remarks by Professor Abraham Newman. Register here to receive the link to the event.
About the Author
Kristen Looney is an assistant professor of Asian Studies and Government at Georgetown University, where she teaches courses on Chinese and Comparative Politics. Her research is on rural development and governance. Dr. Looney has previously published her research in The China Quarterly, The China Journal, and Current History. Her research has been supported by the Chiang Ching-Kuo Foundation, the National Science Foundation, the Fulbright-Hays Program, the Blakemore Foundation, the Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowships Program, and the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard. She holds a B.A. from Wellesley College in Chinese Studies and Ph.D. in Government from Harvard University.
About the Moderator
Michael Green is Director of Asian Studies and Chair in Modern and Contemporary Japanese Politics and Foreign Policy at the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. He is also a senior vice president for Asia and Japan Chair at CSIS. He is a Trustee of The Asia Foundation, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Aspen Strategy Group, and serves on the advisory boards of the Center for a New American Security and Australian American Leadership Dialogue and the editorial board of The Washington Quarterly.