New Players, Old Game: The Chinese-Brazilian Relations

Spokesmen of countries in the global South frequently use the rhetoric of South-South cooperation. At the same time many of these countries integrate themselves all the more closely into the international free trade regime as it was installed during the height of Western hegemony. This paper analyzes the relations between China and Brazil as a case example of South-South cooperation that has intensified rapidly in recent years. Based on qualitative interviews with scholars and policy advisors realized in 2011/12 in both countries and backed by a review of secondary literature, it focuses on the question of whether developments in the South remain guided by thinking in Western categories and worldviews or whether they actually present new approaches to international cooperation.

Politicians from both countries often speak about equality, mutual benefit, and the rejection of hegemony. This implies a rejection of the disproportionately strong position of Western states in global economic affairs and a struggle for self-determined development. The argument of this paper is, however, that this does not necessarily imply a rejection of Western norms and values. Development models in the South – be they free market or state-led – first of all aim at growth and competitiveness. Both China and Brazil benefit from their mutual economic exchange within the liberalized global economy. They benefit, however, in terms of national economic growth, while connected problems like social inequality are considered as issues for national social politics. Accordingly, reform-proposals of the global economic order basically aim at changing the power balance between states rather than the underlying principles of cooperation. Therefore, the question to be addressed is whether the rise of and cooperation among the South represents an alternative globalization or whether it merely reproduces material and power imbalances and their epistemological justifications, not only between but also within these countries.