Reflection – Global Political Theory

As China increases its foothold in Latin America, observers question whether China’s involvement is for better or worse. Dependency theory is one way of answering those questions. While the oppression identified in dependency theory is typically associated with the US and Europe, China is a rising global power. The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is China’s new method of investing in the economies of the oppressed.

The BRI is a Chinese development initiative to establish infrastructure and stronger trade relations in countries that need it. China invests in developing countries to build roads, bridges, and ports, among other infrastructure. World Bank studies project it may create economic growth as far as lifting 32 million people out of poverty. However, it is also a way for China to insert itself into the economies of developing countries. As China builds infrastructure in developing countries, they impose debt upon them that is increasingly hard to pay due to COVID-19. As countries struggle to pay their debts, they also give up their land. Consequently, critics see this as an example of neocolonialism and debt-trap diplomacy .The BRI began with Africa and Western Asia in 2013. Now, 20 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean are members. Most recently, Argentina joined China’s BRI in early 2022. As a result, China is now Latin America’s second largest trading partner, following the US. As Latin America is already an export-based economy, it is easy for China to profit from its resources and cheap labor. Furthermore, it provides China with a market for its booming financial technology companies as well as support for unification with Taiwan. China has seen benefits but the consequences for Latin America are debated. Skeptics point to infrastructure that has created environmental concerns, crossed borders and created conflict, and projects that remain unfinished due to unpaid debt. For example, Argentina faced significant backlash and lawsuits for allowing Chinese dam construction. Construction continued despite the damage to indigenous ancestral lands and the threat of driving wildlife to extinction. For those who believe that Latin America will suffer negative consequences, dependency theory may frame their perspective.

Dependency theory has historically pointed to Latin America as dependent on its oppressors to survive. It argues that an exploitative trade dynamic is the cause of the limited development of Latin America. Latin American economies are primarily export-based due to their cheap labor and an abundance of natural resources. They export to developed countries, particularly the US, which turn their natural resources into finished goods. Latin America is then required to purchase finished goods at the high prices set by developed countries. Due to the low earnings from exports and high costs of imports, Latin America lacks the income to develop its own economy. As a result, it is dependent on the US for the goods that sustain its economy at the cost of cheap labor. The same theory applies to China, where Latin America recently expanded its exports.

A fundamental contributor to dependency theory was Eduardo Galeano. In his most famous work, Open Veins of Latin America, he argues that Europe and the US are responsible for the economic inferiority of Latin America. For example, he argues that the American slave trade funded European development at the cost of Latin American development. The slave trade produced innovation and economic gains that set the stage for the industrial revolution in Europe. However, it had a human cost that is seen today. According to dependency theory, unpaid labor in poor conditions is the modern day slavery. Latin America must rely on conditions that are affordable rather than modernizing. Consequently, development is limited and exploitation continues. This demonstrates the remaining effects of historical power dynamics.

Although Galeano spells out the broad dynamic of oppressor and oppressed in Open Veins, it was written in 1971 before China’s sphere of influence was outspread. Open Veins describes how the world is divided into oppressor and oppressed, or developed and developing. Following Galeano’s reasoning, if Latin America is the oppressed, it necessitates that China is the oppressor. Furthermore, he explains that historical exploitation remains today. Therefore, if Latin America is already weak due to exploitation, he might argue that it would make easy prey for China. China can easily take advantage of an economy that is already export-based and fueled by cheap labor. The BRI supports Chinese development as China imports natural resources, cultivated affordably with cheap labor, in order to produce factories and financial technology. China also gains allies in its conflict with Taiwan. Eight Latin American countries have changed to support Chinese unification. Due to the dichotomy between oppressor and oppressed, Galeano would likely argue that China’s development comes at the expense of Latin America.

On the other hand, critics of dependency theory may support the BRI. One example is Guide to the Perfect Latin American Idiot by Plinio Apuleyo Mendoza, Alvaro Vargas Llosa, and Carlos Alberto Montaner. The Guide is a bitter refutation of dependency theory and Eduardo Galeano’s ideas. It ridicules dependency theorists for criticizing the US both when it provides foreign aid and when it does not. It argues that it is unfair to blame debt traps for economic inferiority when Latin America would not be able to sustain itself without foreign investments. The authors additionally point out that Galeano makes the same argument in favor of foreign investments. In Open Veins, Galeano “wonders if those who made us paralytic might offer us a wheelchair?” He therefore argues in favor of financial compensation from oppressors. The Guide concludes that if even Galeano himself would expect foreign aid, it is unfair to criticize when it is received. Moreover, the Guide attacks Galeano’s idea that the world is divided into only oppressor and oppressed. In its view, it is impossible to determine that foreign investment can only benefit one group at the expense of another. Henceforth, the Guide may argue that the BRI can benefit both Latin America and China. Its support for foreign aid suggests support for the BRI.

China’s rise in the global market demonstrates the continued relevance of dependency theory. Critics of dependency theory often argue that the success of former colonies such as India makes it irrelevant. However, it is indeed helpful in interpreting global power shifts for the present and future.

WORKS CITED

Mendoza, Plinio Apuleyo, Carlos Alberto Montaner, and Alvaro Vargas Llosa. Guide to the Perfect Latin American Idiot. Lanham, Md.: Madison Books, 2001.

Galeano, & Belfrage, C. (1997). Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent (25th anniversary ed.). Monthly Review Press.

Zhang, Pepe. “Belt and Road in Latin America: A Regional Game Changer?” Atlantic Council, October 9, 2019. https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/in-depth-research-reports/issue-brief/belt-and-road-in-latin-america-a-regional-game-changer/.

Roy, Diana. “China’s Growing Influence in Latin America.” Council on Foreign Relations, April 12, 2022. https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/china-influence-latin-america-argentina-brazil-venezuela-security-energy-bri.

Business. “Argentina: Santa Cruz River Hydroelectric Complex – Business & Human Rights Resource Centre.” Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, 2022. https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/latest-news/argentina-santa-cruz-river-hydroelectric-complex/.

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In 1992, an uprising occurred after a jury acquitted the Los Angeles Police Department of charges related to brutally beating a young Black man named Rodney King. After the judge announced the verdict, numerous buildings were set ablaze, and upwards of 2,300 people were injured in the civil unrest that persisted for several months. Today, the public mostly remembers the event, dubbed the “1992 LA Riots,” for the ensuing chaos after that verdict. However, fewer people recognize that there were additional reasons for the event.

At age the young age of 15, while shopping for some orange juice, Latasha Harlins was shot in the back and killed by Du Soon-Ja, a Korean woman who accused Harlins of stealing from her convenience store in South Los Angeles. Allegedly, Du had threatened other children with weapons before Harlins, but this time she pulled the trigger. Two months after the incident, like the LAPD, the judiciary eventually handed Du an incredibly light sentence. Hence, many believe this judicial decision also contributed to the harsher treatment experienced by Koreatown during the riots, with reportedly increased violence, looting, and arson in the area. In particular, looters targeted Du’s store, burning it to the ground. After the chaos, it never reopened.

The 1992 LA Riots merely exemplify tensions between Korean-Americans and Black Americans that continue to manifest in the United States. For many years, some Black Americans have intentionally avoided supporting Korean-owned businesses, and some Korean American business owners have discriminated against their black patrons. However, despite the racial, cultural, and linguistic barriers between the two groups, they share quite a distinct history that would theoretically link them.

Over the past 200 years, both Korean and Black Americans have experienced tremendous oppression at the hands of hegemonic powers. For example, in the United States, white landowners enslaved millions of people of African descent through the transatlantic slave trade. These enslaved people were overworked, sexually abused, and forced to conform to a white-controlled society. Likewise, thousands of Korean and Korean Americans faced exploitation via Japanese occupation throughout the first half of the 20th century. Their Japanese oppressors forced them to abandon their Korean names, co-opted their historical artifacts, sexually enslaved their youth, and robbed them of their political autonomy. Moreover, once their controllers abandoned the established system, members of these ethnic groups were forced to pick up the pieces and rebuild. As a result, many chose to flee their homeland to seek success in other parts of the world, while others remained in familiar territory. Collectively, shared trauma continues to affect the descendants’ current circumstances negatively.

A Korean woman and child under Japanese occupation

Moreover, once their controllers abandoned the established system, members of these ethnic groups were forced to pick up the pieces and rebuild. As a result, many chose to flee their homeland to seek success in other parts of the world, while others remained in familiar territory. Holistically thinking, Koreans and African Americans share a comparable history concerning the erasure of their identities and theft of their bodily autonomy. Hence, aside from noticeable physical and social differences between the two cultures, many would assume that there is some affinity between them.

Nevertheless, a rift still manifests between the groups. A systemic socio-economic divide exists between Korean Americans and their Black American peers, furthering the perceived dissimilarity between the populations within the United States. Similarily, many Korean celebrities continue to culturally appropriate Black culture, which creates outrage and division. Some of the biggest names in the Korean popular music industry have adopted culturally insensitive hairstyles and artificial personas that mimic Black culture. Just last month, netizens exposed Jennie from Blackpink for wearing cornrows, a traditional African hairstyle with ties to chattel slavery, in a promotional advertisement for a new HBO show. Despite Blackpink being one of the most popular female groups in the world, she has encountered very few repercussions for these actions. Nonetheless, one significant similarity presents between the two divergent groups: Confucian ideology in response to exploitation.

Historically, Confucianism became integrated into Korean social structures several hundred years ago. Brought over from China in the 13th century, the ideological values of Confucianism rose to prevalence during the Joseon Dynasty. Many ideas promoted by the ideology, such as age-based hierarchy and social position, were attractive to leaders of the time. However, as a response to the rising popularity of religion, especially Buddhism, a new form of philosophy eventually became prevalent: New Confucianism. Still relying on many traditional Confucian values such as filial piety but utilizing a metaphysical-based ethical system, this specific form of Confucianism has had a lasting effect on Korean society, even today.

Particularly over the past century, Korean political thinkers have embraced Confucian ideals in response to the Japanese occupation and the discrimination that accompanied forced modernization. Kim San and other leaders criticized their oppressive system through Confucianism and a leftist perspective towards ending their rule. In addition, leaders integrated Confucian ideals into the Korean civil code even after the Japanese government’s colonial rule ended. They rebelliously employed its teachings as a rebuttal against the controlling regime that subjugated them and the Westernization policies that sought to oppress them. Thus, they adopted policies such as the prohibition of marriage between people of the same last name, which originated from the Confucian ideal that “when a man and a woman (in marriage) share the same surname, their offspring will not flourish.” Via these traditionalist policies they contested their oppressors and found a unique, hybrid political identity.

Beginning in the early 1900s, as a response to the historical subjugation of their people, many Black and Korean activists embraced Confucian ideas in their effort to combat prejudice. While rarely emphasized in American history, Chinese Confucian thought strongly influenced the fight against American racism within the Black Power movement. Many prominent Black activists like Stokely Carmichael, Fred Hampton, and George W. Woodbey saw Confucian ideals and Chinese socialism as a solution to the prejudice in the everyday lives of Black Americans.

Although Confucius never spoke on issues of race, many of these Black activists were initially drawn to his beliefs. Specifically, various thinkers utilized Confucius’s teachings in the fight against their oppressors’ support of Christianity. The Pittsburgh Courier, a prominent weekly Black newspaper, once analogized “the teaching of Confucius: ‘Do not unto others that you would not have them do to you,'” to a biblical statement of Jesus Christ:” ‘Do unto others, that you would they should do unto you.'” Drawing comparisons to the inequalities in Asia, they embraced Confucian beliefs to parallel the qualities they saw as necessary for change. For many, Confucianism’s teachings of reciprocity and hierarchal social order became integral to their philosophy for combatting racism. Essentially, “Confucian and Christian teachings represented a moral standard that white society should abide by,” and Confucius’s non-white status made it all the more attractive.

Furthermore, even those who never specifically referenced Confucius embraced the values indirectly through their affinity for Chinese political thought. For example, well-known Black activist and educator, Frederick Douglass, was “confident that the Chinese, emboldened by Confucianism, would join African Americans in resisting this new form of slavery.” He viewed Confucianism as a solution that opposed the Christian values that white racists used to subjugate and enslave Black people. Consequently, these teachings and connections became embedded within Black society and strongly influenced other Black thinkers until the 1950s. Thus, even though most people studying these historical political movements often overlook the role that Confucian thought played in shaping the Civil Rights and Black Power movements, it manifested as a rebellious and persuasive ideology among various activists.

Altogether, when considering both Black Americans and Koreans, Confucianism cannot be stripped from their political thought. For both groups, prominent leaders sought freedom from their subjugators through similar political and social ideologies. Moreover, their tools came from a similar source: Chinese Confucian thought. Fundamentally, they used such philosophy as a source of morality and inspiration, which helped them tackle oppression. Thus, even though modern political conflicts between the two groups largely obscure these similar origins, an ideological basis connects the two distinct groups.

With such connections in mind, it denotes a very distinct Korean concept called 닮음(Dalm-eum). Translated best into English as “resemblance,” dalm-eum demonstrates how these two persecuted cultures converge in their ideological history. Despite the ongoing tensions between Black Americans and people of Korean descent and systemic prejudice that manifests as a perceived division between the cultures, similar histories and political motives leave room for collaboration throughout the continual racial discrimination. Via dalm-eum, these groups have even more reason to tear down the walls between them and function alongside each other. Hence, whether through the collaboration of the “Stop Asian Hate” and “Black Lives Matter” movements or some other historical interactions, they have a political foundation to converge in solidarity toward a similar goal.

Black and Asian Solidarity Run at Union Square (2021)

WORKS CITED

Kevin N., Cawley. 2021. “Korean Confucianism.” In The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Stanford University: Metaphysics Research Lab. https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2021/entries/korean-confucianism.

Suzanne, Sng. 2022. “Blackpink’s Jennie Accused of Cultural Appropriation for Having Cornrows in HBO Series the Idol | the Straits Times.” straitstimes.com, July 19, 2022. https://www.straitstimes.com/life/entertainment/blackpinks-jennie-accused-of-cultural-appropriation-for-having-cornrows-in-hbo-series-the-idol.

Yong, Chen. 2012. “The Presence of Confucianism in Korea and Its General Influence on Law and Politics.” In ¿Es El Confucianismo Una Religión? La Controversia Sobre La Religiosidad Confuciana, Su Significado Y Trascendencia. El Colegio de Mexico.

Yoon, In-Jin. 1998. “Who Is My Neighbor?: Koreans’ Perceptions of Blacks and Latinos as Employees, Customers, and Neighbors.” Development and Society 27 (1): 49–75. https://doi.org/http://www.jstor.org/stable/44396776..

Zhang, Tao. 2021. “The Confucian Strategy in African Americans’ Racial Equality Discourse.” Dao 20 (2). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11712-021-09778-9.

Tag: Reflection

Dependency Theory in 21st Century China and Latin America

닮음(Dalm-eum): Political Unity Among Separated Cultures