“[This book] joins a growing literature that traces the origins of post-1949 Chinese Communist Party policies back to the Republican period, reassesses the relationship between economy and society during the Nanking decade, and revises the view of Wang Jingwei’s collaborative nationalism. In addition, the book highlights the fluidity of ‘modernity’ as a guiding concept for late developing countries in their search for a balance among state, society, and the economy.”–Kwan Man Bun “American Historical Review”
“A significant contribution to our understanding of the Nanjing Decade in terms of economic policy-making and the intra-Party struggles over the control of resources. It will be of interest to all students of modern Chinese history and Chinese modernity.”–Edmund S. K. Fung “China Journal”
“Zanasi’s book adds an important new dimension to our understanding of the Nanjing Decade by focusing on the notions and activities of the Wang group . . . and presenting the political complexity of the Guomingdang government.”–Linsun Cheng “International Journal of Asian Studies”
“Saving the Nation will make a signal contribution to the history of Republican China. We have excellent studies of business and economic enterprise and a few important studies of Nationalist economic policy, but this is the first study to dissect in detail the economic policy debates of the late 1920s and 1930s beyond Chiang Kai-shek’s immediate circle. The inclusion of Wang Jingwei, Chen Gongbo, and Song Ziwen as pivotal figures in the debates over China’s economic present and future broadens the study in ways that are politically fascinating.”–David Strand, Dickinson College
–David Strand (2/24/2006 12:00:00 AM)
“In Saving the Nation, Margherita Zanasi adds an important new dimension to our understanding of the struggles for control of the Nationalist Party that broke out after Sun Yat-sen’s death in 1925. Moving between the registers of political, intellectual, and economic history, she skillfully analyzes the varied ways that Chiang Kai-shek and his rivals strove to push the country toward ‘economic modernity.’ The result is a study that has much to tell us about China’s Republican-era past and places in new perspective the debates over development and nationalism of China’s Reform-era present.”–Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom, University of California, Irvine
–Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom (5/29/2006 12:00:00 AM)
“Zanasi’s study is very well-researched and highly significant for several reasons: it shows how ideas of central European fascist and dirigiste political-economic systems–put to purposes of national defense–were far more important in Republican China than we have appreciated; how ‘collaborationism’ cannot be dissociated from contending strategies and politics of building national strength; and how these contentions form a central moment in the history of the present in China.”–Prasenjit Duara, University of Chicago
–Prasenjit Duara (5/29/2006 12:00:00 AM)
Economic modernity is so closely associated with nationhood that it is impossible to imagine a modern state without an equally modern economy. Even so, most people would have difficulty defining a modern economy and its connection to nationhood. InSaving the Nation, Margherita Zanasi explores this connection by examining the first nation-building attempt in China after the fall of the empire in 1911.
Challenging the Marxist and structuralist assumption that nations are products of technological and socioeconomic forces, Zanasi argues that it was notions of what constituted a modern nation that led the Nationalist nation-builders to shape China s institutions and economy. In their reform effort, they confronted several questions: What characterized a modern economy? What role would a modern economy play in the overall nation-building effort? And how could China pursue economic modernization while maintaining its distinctive identity? Zanasi expertly shows how these questions were negotiated and contested within the Nationalist Party. Silenced during the Mao years, these dilemmas are reemerging today as a new leadership once again redefines the economic foundation of the nation.
A compelling and astute examination of China s nation-building efforts after the fall of the Imperial system,Saving the Nation will be celebrated not only by those interested in China s transformation, but also by those watching similar scenarios take place in other parts of the world.
From the Back Cover
Economic modernity is so closely associated with nationhood that it is impossible to imagine a modern state without an equally modern economy. Even so, most people would have difficulty defining a modern economy and its connection to nationhood. In Saving the Nation, Margherita Zanasi explores this connection by examining the first nation-building attempt in China after the fall of the empire in 1911.
Challenging the Marxist and structuralist assumption that nations are products of technological and socioeconomic forces, Zanasi argues that it was notions of what constituted a modern nation that led the Nationalist nation-builders to shape China’s institutions and economy. In their reform effort, they confronted several questions: What characterized a modern economy? What role would a modern economy play in the overall nation-building effort? And how could China pursue economic modernization while maintaining its distinctive identity? Zanasi expertly shows how these questions were negotiated and contested within the Nationalist Party. Silenced during the Mao years, these dilemmas are reemerging today as a new leadership once again redefines the economic foundation of the nation.
A compelling and astute examination of China’s nation-building efforts after the fall of the Imperial system, Saving the Nation will be celebrated not only by those interested in China’s transformation, but also by those watching similar scenarios take place in other parts of the world.
About the Author
Margherita Zanasi is associate professor in the Department of History at Louisiana State University.
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