Please join the Comparative Politics Workshop as they host Northwestern University PhD candidate Jianan Du.
Modernization is often understood as a process through which economic development and bureaucratic rationalization gradually displace traditional and non-instrumental forms of belief. This article challenges this assumption by showing that modernization projects themselves may remain embedded in ritualized and traditional belief-based practices. Drawing on a newly constructed dataset from local chronicles of major events across China from 1949 to 2020, I identify the dates of major project launches and match them with auspicious dates recorded in traditional Chinese almanacs. The analysis reveals a striking temporal pattern. Rather than declining with modernization, the use of auspicious dates increased substantially during the post-1978 market reform era—a period typically associated with economic rationalization, marketization, and increasingly technocratic governance compared to the personalist rule during Mao Era. This pattern is particularly pronounced among projects closely associated with local economic growth and GDP-oriented development, such as industrial parks and real estate projects.
Jianan Du is a PhD candidate at Northwestern University. His research focuses on the dynamic intersections of bureaucracy and religion, with a particular emphasis on the Chinese context. He is interested in exploring how religious beliefs interact with state bureaucratic structures, shaping both governance and social life.
Ariel Sowers
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