A team of international leading experts provide a much needed re-examination of the theoretical claims and the empirical foundation of developmental state theory. Asian States argues that regardless of the merits of the developmental state as an explanation of economic growth, it falls far short of being an adequate theory of the state in Asia. The contributors critically review claims about agency, state-society and state-market relations that shape developmental projects. It broadens the analysis of state involvement in developmental projects and considers the variety of political...

Including contributions from an international team of leading experts, this volume examines state making from a uniquely Asian perspective and reveals some of the misunderstandings that arise when states and state making are judged solely on the basis of Western history. The contributors argue that if we are to understand states in Asia then we must first recognize the particular combination of institution and ideologies embedded in Asian state making and their distinctiveness from the Western experience.

Presenting new empirical and conceptual material based on original...