The Rise and Decline and Rise of China ― Searching for an Organising Philosophy

Running like a red thread through this book are the manifestations of Sino-African relations dating back many centuries. In this way,The Rise and Decline and Rise of China: Searching for an Organising Philosophy takes forward the work MISTRA conducted on the Mapungubwe society, one of the advanced states that existed in southern Africa some 800 years ago, and which enjoyed trade relations with China and other centres in the East. Mapungubwe rose and fell, long before European colonial incursions. Other states emerged in the vicinity, but they also suffered the same fate. When do southern Africa and Africa at large rise again? Are there lessons that the continent can draw from the experience of the Chinese people? If – beyond material considerations – religion, culture and ideology do play a role in the rise, decline and resurgence of a civilization, what are the similarities and contrasts between these regions? Of course, such research cannot ignore the fundamental questions: whence does the current system of social, economic and political relations in China draw its resilience, how adaptable is it, and is it sustainable? As the outcome contained in this book demonstrates, a research exercise of this kind can only be exploratory. It serves merely as a genesis to work that should find new legs. What makes this research report unique, though, is that the treatment of these issues has been undertaken primarily from an African perspective.

Dr Ross Anthony is the Interim Director of the Centre for Chinese Studies at Stellenbosch University. His research focuses on Chinese politics both domestically and in its relationship with Africa. Within China, Dr Anthony continues to hold an interest in the area of his Ph.D. research: the Muslim region of Xinjiang, western China, in fields of ethnicity, nationalism, urbanization and China’s market shift. He is an advocate of building African-centred China expertise through teaching. He teaches on China-Africa-related issues as well as on issues of Chinese politics, economy, culture and history. He holds a doctorate from the University of Cambridge funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and was previously a Mellon Foundation Research Fellow at the Centre for Chinese Studies. Kevin Bloom is an award-winning author and journalist, as well as an editor and part-time lecturer of many years’ experience. He has written for a wide array of South African and international publications, including theGuardian and Times in the UK, The National of the UAE, and Global Brief of Canada. In his native South Africa, he has won a Mondi Magazine Award and been named a finalist for a Mondi Newspaper Award. He has over a decade’s experience as an editor of South African long-form and short-form journalism, having worked closely with many of the country’s best nonfiction writers (most notably Rian Malan). He has a postgraduate diploma in journalism from Rhodes University and an MA in Creative Writing (awarded with distinction) from the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits). He has lectured at various South African universities and is currently a supervisor in the MA Creative Writing programme at Wits.Dr Daouda Cisse joined the China Institute in January 2015 as a postdoctoral research fellow. Prior to joining the University of Alberta, he was at the Centre for Chinese Studies, Stellenbosch University, South Africa from 2011 to 2014. He was awarded a Ph.D. in Economics from Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, Wuhan, China.Dr Martyn Davies is the CEO of Frontier Advisory, a leading research, strategy and advisory firm that specialises in emerging markets. He has advised a large number of multinational companies on their strategies in Africa and other emerging markets. He holds a BA degree in Law, an Honours Degree in International Relations (cum laude), a Master's Degree in International Relations (cum laude), (University of the Witwatersrand), a Diploma in Asian Studies (Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea) and a Ph.D. in International Relations (University of the Witwatersrand). He also has a certificate from Harvard Business School for its ‘Making Markets Work’ course, is a graduate of the Harvard Kennedy School’s Global Leadership Program, and is an alumnus of the Global Leadership & Decision-Making in the 21st Century program at Yale University. He has lectured by invitation at Harvard University, MIT, London School of Economics, Oxford University, IE Business School, Peking University, the African Development Bank, the OECD, the European Commission, the Royal African Society, the World Bank, and has addressed leading global conferences that include the J. P. Morgan China Conference and the Fortune Global Conference.Dr Hester du Plessis is currently the Faculty Head: Humanity, at the Mapungubwe Institute. She holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Unisa’s Department of African Philosophy. Before joining MISTRA in 2014, she was a Senior Research Specialist (Science Communication Research) in the Research Use and Impact Assessment (RIA) unit at the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) of South Africa.Maxime Lauzon-Lacroix is a Research Affiliate at the Centre for Chinese Studies at Stellenbosch University. He holds a Double M.Sc. International Affairs from the London School of Economics and Peking University.