Journal of China in Global and Comparative Perspectives
Volume 4, 2018
Abstract: This paper examines early discussions of stock exchanges by Max Weber, Liang Qichao, and Kang Youwei and considers their contemporaneity. Despite different contexts, the discussions shared a nineteenth-century preoccupation with global competition and Darwinian struggles for survival. All reveal the attendant anxieties of latecomer nations experiencing belated modernity. Weber, however, wrote from a position that embraced German colonialism, whereas Liang and Kang’s advocacy of stock exchanges was marked by concerns for the Chinese nation that emerged as a result of the experience of colonialism and economic imperialism.
Keywords: Club, ethical culture, stock exchanges, foreign influence