ABSTRACT
As a theoretical rejoinder to dominant ‘Western’ urban theories and discourses, scholars working in the context of the global south have often underscored the local uniqueness and particularities of their respective cities as a way to ‘speak back’ to Western theorization. A typical argument advanced in some of this work lays claim that conventional urban paradigms are grossly inadequate for studying ‘non-Western’ cities, given the unique historical as well as political-economic conditions that have inflected local urban development. Drawing on some of the geographical work on urban China as a starting point, this chapter critically examines the claim that China’s urbanization model is unique, exceptional and hence defies conventional (Western) theorizing. Specifically, the use of the term ‘China exceptionalism’ as it is applied in the context of China’s urban development refers to the assertion that political and economic events peculiar to China have rendered the Chinese urbanization trajectory more different than similar from Anglo-American cities. The Chinese state, in particular, is seen to respond to and/ or create conditions and institutions that render urban China’s experience unique and exceptional. The chapter will first take stock of some of these arguments and then proceed to examine some of the theoretical pitfalls inherent in such thinking. Specifically, the chapter addresses the ways in which the thesis of exceptionalism have been sustained and, more importantly, what is lost or ignored by framing geographical inquiry and knowledge within such exceptionalist discourses.
