| As neoliberalism comes to reshape the world, economists have increasingly reconstituted themselves into a global profession with sufficient political power over national states. This dissertation examines the professional development of Chinese economists during last thirty years' economic reform to see whether they have converged with their colleagues elsewhere and triumphed over state power.;The content of this study is two-fold. First, I historicize the trajectory of economists' professional development, the expansion of their authorities, their institutional bases and intra- as well as inter-professional relationships in four social spheres respectively, i.e., policy making arena, academic system, public sphere and economic sector. Second, I investigate whether and how the state shapes, patronizes and regulates the economic profession in different historical periods, when the state itself has changed drastically in terms of bases of legitimacy, power structure, policy paradigm and state-society relationship.;Resorting to in-depth interviews, (auto) biographies, archives, content analysis and second-hand literature, I reconstruct the historical storylines in great detail. I come to the conclusion that the professional development of Chinese economists in various social spheres are highly uneven and non-accumulative. It can largely be attributed to the state, which shapes and reshapes economists according to its own interests and political needs. After all, the state still has the upper hand; the state has successfully tamed this powerful profession with global nature and resources.;This dissertation contributes to existing theoretical debates in a number of fronts. First, it problematizes one of the major agents of China's economic reform and offers an alternative explanation to the rise of the so-called "Chinese model". Second, it provides ample empirical evidence to reconsider classical theories on profession, professionalization and state-profession relationship, which are narrowly based on Western (US) cases. Third, it also reveals that the Chinese state has by no means been debilitated or eclipsed during the economic reform. Rather, Chinese state has tamed neoliberalism for its own interests by taming one of its agent and advocator, i.e., economist. Last, it also identifies the major strategies and structural conditions for authoritarian states (such as China) to tame professions as well as other social groups. |
