Unparalleled Reforms: China's Rise, Russia's Fall, and the Interdependence of Transition

Abstract

Unparalleled Reforms: China's Rise, Russia's Fall, and the Interdependence of Transition, Christopher Marsh. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2005. 189 pp. $75.00, cloth.Christopher Marsh's latest book, Unparalleled Reforms: China's Rise, Russia's Fall, and the Interdependence of Transition, is an ambitious attempt to both chronicle and account for the different paths of political and economic change taken by the People's Republic of China, beginning in 1978, and the USSR-turned-Russian Federation, beginning in the late 1980s. This book is an exercise in comparative politics in the very best sense: the author has selected two cases in which numerous similarities are juxtaposed with profound differences in national culture, history, policies, and results of policies. As such, the prospects for scholarly knowledge and understanding to be significantly expanded are very good. Marsh succeeds in a manner that is likely to spawn similar attempts to understand the efficacy of reform projects not only in Russia and China, but also in other geographically proximate countries (e.g., Central Asia and Mongolia).The value of the book is underscored by the paucity of works comparing reform in China and Russia, despite the fertility of intellectual soil from which meaningful, deeply informed comparison might usefully occur. This is especially so given the approach taken in Unparalleled Reforms, wherein the author undertakes his comparative analysis from the perspective of seeking to understand the manner and degree to which China and Russia's reform efforts were mutually interdependent. That paucity is traceable in large measure to the scarcity of North American scholars who have advanced research capability in both the Russian and Chinese languages, and who are deeply learned in those countries' cultures and histories and thoroughly familiar with contemporary scholarship on comparative political analysis. Fortunately for the scholarly community, Marsh possesses all of the above, and accordingly brings a wealth of insight to his readers. As such, Unparalleled Reforms appears destined for long-term noteworthiness in that it represents a truly pioneering effort, and for which the scholarly community will long remain indebted.Given the size of the topic and the book's length (less than 200 pages), it is remarkably insightful and concise. Although the bulk of the book's contribution is found, of course, in the seven substantive chapters, I found even the several-page preface to be succinctly insightful. By mentioning Foucault's concept of an "archive" of essentially distorted understandings of other cultures serving as a poor substitute for thoroughly grasping the underlying realities of those cultures, Marsh gives his readers a hint of the deep insights offered throughout Unparalleled Reforms. Marsh succeeds, in fact, in summarizing a broad array of scholarship in an engaging readable manner. Unparalleled Reforms calls not merely for a quick read, but close study by a wide readership, and not only by those already well versed in either Russian or Chinese political studies.The main theme of Unparalleled Reforms is that a much greater degree of interdependence existed between the Soviet/Russia and Chinese reform efforts than has hitherto been acknowledged (or worse, even recognized) by Western scholars. This shortcoming, according to Marsh, significantly truncates our depth of understanding of the political and economic transitions that have occurred, for better or worse, in both the People's Republic of China and the USSR-turned-Russian Federation. Marsh succeeds in making his point in a manner that will help subsequent scholarship to not neglect this important dimension of political change.There are several points made in Unparalleled Reforms that will be scrutinized closely by scholars; in my judgment, however, this will not undermine its overall soundness and usefulness. …