Abstract
dc:description.abstractThis thesis investigates China's unique technological modernisation pathway through the lens of cybernetics, a discipline centred on systems control and engineering that has fundamentally influenced governance structures and bureaucratic authority. Moving beyond the existing analyses of China’s development that emphasize economic reforms or organisational capabilities, this research aims to highlight the significant role of epistemology in China's modernisation journey. Employing a mixed-methods approach, the study reveals that how key knowledge production episodes have transformed the relationship between technical expertise and bureaucratic power and then shaped development strategies and policy makings across various sectors over recent decades. Through three interrelated mechanisms, strategic positioning of intellectuals, institutionalisation via networks, and concrete material performance of knowledge claims, cybernetics has established the epistemic legitimacy for shaping bureaucratic practices in China. These findings contribute to wider theoretical discussions concerning modernisation trajectories, state capacity, and techno state in contemporary governance. This study concludes that a comprehensive understanding of China’s distinctive modernisation and techno-state approach requires examination of the epistemic foundations which constructs the mentality of the bureaucracy.
Degree
thesis:*- Name dc:type.qualificationname
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
- Level dc:type.qualificationlevel
- Doctoral
- Grantor dc:publisher.institution
- University of Cambridge
- Year dc:date.issued
- 2025
Author and committee
dc:creator, dc:contributor.*- Author dc:creator
-
- Liu, Canhui
- Advisor dc:contributor.advisor
-
- Baert, Patrick
Subjects
dc:subject × 5Rights
dc:rightsIdentifiers
dc:identifier.*- DOI dc:identifier.doi
- https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.121572
- OAI identifier oai:identifier
- oai:www.repository.cam.ac.uk:1810/389782