Chinese Political Science Review - Call for Papers: The Making of Belt and Road Initiative Projects in African States: Local Actors, Interests, and Policy Link-Ups
Call for Papers
Special Issue Guest Editor: Julie Yu-Wen Chen (University of Helsinki & Palacky University)
The Chinese government defines the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in functional terms, supporting any international project with the potential to become part of the BRI. There is no concrete definition of the kind of cooperative engagement there should be, leading to many possibilities, encouraging interested stakeholders worldwide to justify how their projects can be part of the BRI and thus obtain Chinese investments or loans. In this call, however, we problematize the concept that the Chinese state is the most important variable, if not the only, in explaining the success of BRI projects. Therefore, a bottom-up approach that examines the motives, actions, and resources of potential stakeholders in various BRI targeted states is crucial. We would like scholars to share their studies of the consternation of domestic institutions, policy and/or business networks, and the efforts of political and business entrepreneurs in African states to link up their policy priorities with the BRI. How do local African actors, governmental or private, match their interests and policy preferences with the BRI? Does the matching of interest remain at the cooperation of building up transportation infrastructure or has cooperation in other fields such as agriculture being planned? What are the working-level dialogues between stakeholders in African countries and Chinese government representatives? Some observers have noted that the African Union has taken the lead in finding synergies between its Agenda 2063 and the BRI, in the belief that this African-bred, 50-year development plan matches well with the BRI’s ambition to provide sustainable prosperity and peace to the continent. How was this match of interest framed, elaborated, and materialized in practice? We seek empirical studies to help evaluate the success or failure of China’s BRI in Africa.
Please email a brief abstract to: julie.chen@helsinki.fi (this opens in a new tab)
Key elements for Abstracts
Title
Author(s) and contact email
Abstracts
Purpose/question/: The paper aims to do what, or address what questions, and why it is theoretically and practically significant
Design/theoretical/methodological/approaches, if any
Academic value and contributions
Keywords
Timeline for submission of abstracts and papers
Proposed abstracts due on September 15, 2020
Lead author will be contacted with final determination about submissions by September 30, 2020
Manuscript submissions (6000 and 8000 words) due on February 15, 2021
Review completed by June 1, 2021
Targeting dates for publication in December, 2021