CRITIQUE OF THE CRITICS OF GIOVANNI ARRIGHI’S ADAM SMITH IN BEIJING
CRITIQUE OF THE CRITICS OF GIOVANNI ARRIGHI’S ADAM SMITH IN BEIJING

Summary/Abstract: This short critique of some of the reviews of Giovanni Arrighi’s Adam Smith in Beijing makes four points. First, the characterization of contemporary China as a non-capitalist market economy is the most serious shortcoming of Arrighi’s book. Second, Arrighi’s explanation of the Industrial Revolution in relation to the increasing military requirements of the European states has solid historical foundations. Third, Arrighi makes a cogent argument that the “Great Divergence” of Europe and China was rooted in the relative extroversion of power struggles in Europe versus their relative introversion in China and the consequent imbalance of naval power between the two regions. Finally, Arrighi’s structural analysis of hegemonic transitions in the world system enables the reader to track the links between China’s economic ascent and the crisis of the U.S. hegemony. One of its most important implications is the increasing bifurcation of economic and military power in the contemporary world, signaling the immense difficulty of a single nation-state (including China) to turn itself into a world hegemon.

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