China in Africa: A World-System Analysis

Abstract

As China rises so does its involvement abroad, in particular in various African countries. The aim of this paper is to use the world-system theory advanced by Immanuel Wallerstein and apply it on the case of Chinese economic and geopolitical activities on the African continent. The analysis is thus based on the division of the world into core, semiperiphery and periphrey. These areas are divided on the basis of the sophistication of their production, which results in the creation of monopolies and quasi-monopolies. The paper shows the nature of trade between China and Africa, which confirms the basic pattern of relations in the hierarchy of international economic relations. Whereas China moved in the hierarchy from the periphery to the semiperiphery, Africa remains a periferal world region. The paper also shows Sudan and Taiwan as special cases that offer a different understanding of the Chinese foreign policy. The question with these two cases becomes whether China practices a single foreign policy and how human rights and their normative power influence Chienese policy. The conclusion normatively assess the consequences of Chinese policy for Africa. Overall the paper is written from a political-economic perspective and emphasizes the economic element in international relations bordering the subfield of geo-economics.