Mobilizing for Development tackles the question of how countries achieve rural development and offers a new way of thinking about East Asia's political economy that challenges the developmental state paradigm. Through a comparison of Taiwan (1950s–1970s), South Korea (1950s–1970s), and China (1980s–2000s), Kristen E. Looney shows that different types of development outcomes—improvements in agricultural production, rural living standards, and the village environment—were realized to different degrees, at different times, and in different ways. She argues that rural modernization campaigns, defined as policies demanding high levels of mobilization to effect dramatic change, played a central role in the region and that divergent development outcomes can be attributed to the interplay between campaigns and institutions. The analysis departs from common portrayals of the developmental state as wholly technocratic and demonstrates that rural development was not just a byproduct of industrialization.

Looney's research is based on several years of fieldwork in Asia and makes a unique contribution by systematically comparing China's development experience with other countries. Relevant to political science, economic history, rural sociology, and Asian Studies, the book enriches our understanding of state-led development and agrarian change.

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The book combines an original theoretical framework, rich knowledge and profound insight about all three cases, and an exemplary comparative historical analysis. It should be treated seriously by those interested in developmental states, rural studies and East Asia, and will definitely trigger more discussions. For China scholars, the book's conceptualization and analysis of campaigns also advance our understanding of this policy tool that is so commonly pursued in the country.

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In Mobilizing for Development, political scientist Kristen E. Looney masterfully illuminates and compares the poorly understood—and often ignored—role that rural development played in the developmental success stories of Taiwan, South Korea, and China... [T]his manuscript will be a must for scholars who research development or the politics of these East Asian societies... [A] writing style that is simultaneously engaging and in-depth, both sparing and rich with detail...

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Looney not only expertly recounts the socio-economic context of the campaigns in Taiwan, South Korea, and China: through an analysis of the style of their implementation and outcomes we also learn how these campaigns ended up with such different results.