The dialectical approach to case studies and the research design

36 of 125 as “self-contained and homogeneous units” (Staricco 2015:87) that represent a subset of a larger set of sim-ilar units. However, the issue about the generalizing paradigm is how the relationships between common features among cases are neglected, leading to a simplistic dichotomy between similarity and dissimilarity, rather than examining the different levels of generalities to which they relate. Thus, while capitalism in China might be similar to Brazil and India (Nölke et al. 2014), these similarities might pertain to capitalism in emerging economies rather than capitalism at a higher level of abstraction. In other words, the nomo-thetic approach collapses the contingent with the necessary as well but inverts the relationship such that the contingent becomes subsumed under the necessary.

37 of 125 Table 3.2.1 - Levels of abstraction for analyzing the capitalist mode of production

Analytical focus

Abstract-simple

Perspective: Capitalist mode of production as an abstract rationalization

Details: The essential characteristics and systemic processes common to all capitalist social formations

Meso Perspective: The periodization of the capitalist mode of production (state spatial pro-ject)

Details: Regularized institutional forms for extended periods of time under which capital accumulation is reproduced

Concrete-complex

Perspective: Capitalist mode of production as contextually specific institutional en-sembles (state spatial strategies)

Details: Particularized processes of social reproduction, class struggle, capital accumu-lation, and policy-making in a given conjuncture

Source: adapted from Brenner (2004)

Our research design follows a dialectical progression consisting of five analytical moments. In the follow-ing paragraphs, we will detail how the five analytical moments will relate to our stipulated research ques-tion, and how they collectively will deepen our understanding of the CICPEC within the context of Chi-nese capitalism. For the convenience of the reader, we have also embedded a graphic illustration of this dialectical progression in Figure 3.2.1 below.

The first analytical moment: theoretical investigation of space vis-à-vis capitalism

The first analytical moment started in section three, in which we established the spatialized features of capi-talism as a rational abstraction. Marx argues in the Grundrisse that the appropriate entry-point to inquire about capitalism must be on the abstract-simple level, that is, as a rational abstraction by bringing out its essential characteristics and to establish its universal laws of motion (Marx 1973:27). Uncovering the gen-eral characteristics of capitalism enables us to understand the systemic processes that are common to all capitalist social formations, namely the generalization of commodity production, the inexorable logic of capital accumulation, class struggle, uneven development, etc. For this reason, the abstract-simple is a

help-38 of 125 ful analytical entry-point to study capitalism by affixing the analytical lens on the object of study and by establishing the essential determinations of the system. As the analysis occurs on a high level of abstrac-tion, it yields generalizable knowledge that is applicable to all capitalist systems.

However, this level of generalization can only be realized on a high level of abstraction because capitalism does not exist as a concrete abstraction. It can only be realized in its concrete expression, or as

‘actually existing capitalisms’, through the unity between its essential determinations and the contingent features of the given historical-geographical context in which it is embedded (Sayer 1975). Thus, Lefebvre argues succinctly:

“Reduction is a scientific procedure designed to deal with the complexity and chaos of brute observations. This kind of simplification is necessary at first, but it must be quickly followed by the gradual restoration of what has thus been temporarily set aside for the sake of analysis.” (Lefebvre 1991:105).

The abstract-simple level of analysis is thus independently inadequate for grasping the complexity of the real world and specific empirical observations because it fails to account for how the historically contingent features of Chinese capitalism has interacted with the essential determinations of capitalism. In conse-quence, an abstract-simple analysis only represents the first step in a dialectical movement towards a con-crete-complex interrogation of Chinese capitalism and the concrete mechanisms underpinning the emer-gence of the CICPEC.

The second analytical moment: China’s regionally decentralized state spatial project

Section 4 transitions to a meso-level analysis. A meso-level analysis of capitalism examines “the relatively durable institutional arrangements, regulatory frameworks, and territorial configurations” (Brenner 2004:20) of a historically and geographically specific context. In the first analytical moment, we formulated a theoretical framework to study how regularized institutional forms facilitate the reproduction of capital accumulation for a given capitalist society. We have defined these regularized institutional forms as a model of development, which comprised three principal components: (a) an accumulation strategy, (b) a state spa-tial project, and (c) spaspa-tial imaginaries. Drawing upon this theoretical framework, we analyze the model of development on which China has depended. We explain that specific patterns of uneven geographical de-velopment are structurally inscribed this model of dede-velopment, as it is predicated on a system of scalar

39 of 125 decentralization and territorial differentiation, which has profoundly influenced the political-economic ge-ography of Yunnan and Guangxi through a part-whole relationship.

Studying capitalism on the meso-level further affixes the analysis to a bounded context character-ized by relative stability. While a meso-level analysis permits “institutional diversity and geographical une-venness [...] among distinct national, regional, or local contexts” (Brenner, 2004: 20), its principal purpose is to preserve a certain level of abstraction to identify the commonalities that manifest themselves as secu-lar trends of a given society on the medium-term time scale. Thus, by identifying the regusecu-larized institu-tional forms under which the reproduction of capital accumulation of a particular society is realized, we can pinpoint the underlying regularities and tendencies that govern its developmental trajectory. This is a nec-essary analytical intervention, as it will provide the foundational context to understand the economic geog-raphy of China and the historical underdevelopment and peripheralization of Yunnan and Guangxi.

The third analytical moment: the coastal development strategy and regional polarization

Section 4 continues by delving into the concrete-complex level of analysis, examining the coastal develop-ment strategy introduced in 1988 by the central governdevelop-ment as a state spatial strategy. Whereas the meso-level analysis corresponds to the concept of state spatial projects, the concrete-complex meso-level relates to the concept of state spatial strategies. The concrete-complex level of analysis can be interpreted as a conjunc-tural analysis, the purpose of which is to understand “the contextually specific political-economic frame-works and territorial configurations through which everyday social reproduction unfolds” (Brenner, 2004:

21). More specifically, the notion of a conjuncture refers to the transitory characteristics of the complex constellation of determinations (economic, political, ideological) of a given historical moment (Koivisto and Lahtinen 2012). It allows us to study how state spatial strategies and their attendant spatial imaginaries have molded sociospatial relations and accumulation processes to stabilize the overarching state spatial project to secure a degree of structured coherence and organizational unity.

The fourth analytical moment: Western Development Strategy and the Greater Mekong Subregion Section 5 remains at the concrete-complex level of analysis and is divided into two subsections, represent-ing two co-evolvrepresent-ing state spatial strategies (WDS and GMS) involvrepresent-ing Yunnan and Guangxi, which were initiated to accelerate their economic development. Collectively, they form the path-shaping antecedents of the double-opening strategy introduced in 2010 and the CICPEC in 2013. In the first subsection on the WDS, we trace the development of the WDS following its inauguration in 1999 and its limited success at

40 of 125 bridging the developmental gap between Yunnan and Guangxi and the coastal regions. We identify how the WDS was primarily predicated on inter-regional integration instead of extra-regional integration.

The second subsection on the GMS analyzes how Yunnan & Guangxi has integrated into the GMS area. Following the introduction of the GMS in 1992, it marked the beginning of extra-regional integration processes as the external borders of Yunnan and Guangxi were opened. We establish that the integration process can be divided into three phases, reflecting the multi-scalar dynamics between the Chinese central government and the provincial governments of Yunnan and Guangxi: (a) an early phase of bottom-up in-tegration that was primarily coordinated by the provincial governments, (b) a subsequent phase of bottom-up integration that was slowly being challenged by top-down influences, and (c) a final phase with the in-troduction of the CICPEC as a national strategy, characterized by a top-down process.

The fifth analytical moment: a prognostic discussion on the future of the regionally decentralized state spatial project

Section 6 returns to the meso-level of analysis by discussing how the changing political-economic geogra-phy of Yunnan and Guangxi provides critical insights into the future of China’s state spatial project. As part of the central government’s attempt to rebalance the Chinese economy under the new normal, the transformation of Yunnan and Guangxi through the CICPEC serves as a useful proxy to understand the impending changes in China’s accumulation strategy and mode of sociospatial regulation. We discuss the endemic tension between scalar decentralization and recentralization, presenting two possible future sce-narios.

41 of 125 Figure 3.2.1 - Dialectical research design