Eurocentric Social Science and the Chinese Region

European social scientists have identified a 'new regionalism' based on the existence of the region as a scale of economic, political and cultural life. This article asks whether these tendencies represent a local European experience, or whether similar movements can be found in China and whether European theorizations speak to the Chinese experience. The article explores the evolution of Chinese provincialism in the twentieth century. It concludes that debates about provincial autonomy both have resonance with European debates and display a distinctively Chinese character, illustrating the complex and contingent relationship between material and cultural regionalism and institutionbuilding.