ISC 205-01 (A Minerva Course)
Inequality:  Economic and Social Perspectives

Teresa Meade and Eshragh Motahar/Fall 2015

Mark Dallas

Fragmentation and Hierarchy in Global Production:  Locating China in the New International Division of Labor
Wednesday, October 28, 2015, Olin 115

China’s remarkable growth since the 1980s has coincided with a deepening of globalization in which international production has fragmented through outsourcing and offshoring, thus engendering a functional integration across national economies. Indeed, China’s economy is very large and it has grown quickly, however, this should not be immediately equated with economic and political strength. This is because these new forms of fragmented production can make analyzing or ‘locating’ China’s position in the international division of labor difficult. The lecture will venture to locate China’s position within the international division of labor, examining countries that are “upstream” or feed China’s manufacturing machine, and those “downstream” that buy from China – the world’s factory. In this way, China can offer a window into the enduring inequalities in the international economy. Edward Steinfeld, Playing Our Game: Why China’s Rise Doesn’t Threaten the West, “Taking Industry Global: China as Rising Industrial Powerhouse vs. China as Capitalist Enabler” (New York: Oxford University Press, 2010), pp. 70-119. Professor Dallas' website.

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Last revised:  Tuesday, September 01, 2015