Under The Table: An Anthropology of Corruption Podcast · Aaron Ansell and Sylvia Tidey

Alan Smart on Corruption and Informality in Hong Kong (11/1/23)

·1 hr 11 min·5 clips

Alan Smart reveals how guanxi allows sincere friendship and self-interest to coexist without turning into corruption.

This episode features an interview with Dr. Alan Smart, a Professor Emeritus of Anthropology known for his work on informality and *guanxi* in Hong Kong and China. Hosts Sylvia Tyree and Aaron Ensell explore Dr. Smart's research trajectory, which began with studying squatter housing and evolved to examine cross-border investment. His famous 1993 article, "Gifts, Bribes, and Guanxi," serves as a key reference point for the discussion. Dr. Smart recounts how his fieldwork in 1980s Hong Kong revealed small manufacturers investing in mainland China through social connections, not formal legal contracts. He contrasts the common narrative of patient, long-term foreign investment with the faster, connection-driven practices of Hong Kong investors in Guangdong. The concept of *guanxi* is explained as an emic form of networking where sincere friendship and mutual benefit coexist without becoming purely instrumental. He references scholars like Mayfair Yang, Andrew Kipnis, and Yan Yunxiang who also studied *guanxi*, though often in domestic contexts. Dr. Smart describes routine gift-giving, like sharing mooncakes during festivals, as integral to maintaining these relationships. He shares a personal anecdote about the difficulty of reciprocating by paying for a dim sum meal with an informant in Hong Kong. The conversation then shifts to his new book, co-authored with Fung Chi-Kwong Charles, which analyzes a 1984 Hong Kong government policy shift on squatter settlements. A key insight is that *guanxi* involves a performance where the relational aspect must remain primary, with any instrumental goals staying unacknowledged. Dr. Smart applies Mark Granovetter's concept of embeddedness, arguing successful businesses balance being "over-embedded" with familial obligations and "under-embedded" in a context of pure individualism. He notes his work on *guanxi* is cited in management textbooks, despite the risk of formalizing such an informal, performative practice. The discussion covers how *guanxi* has transformed since China's WTO accession, with anti-corruption campaigns under Xi Jinping making "pulling *guanxi*" politically dangerous. Dr. Smart suggests these campaigns often target political rivals, indicating *guanxi* networks still operate factionally within the elite. He distinguishes between the social capital of actual *guanxi* relationships and the symbolic capital of a reputation for having powerful connections. The episode also touches on how *guanxi* principles can inform understanding of patron-client relationships in other contexts, like Brazil. The tone is conversational and educational, blending personal fieldwork stories with theoretical analysis from economic and urban anthropology. Listeners interested in the practical realities of business in China, anthropological theories of exchange, or urban informality will find this episode compelling. Those seeking a purely historical or political analysis of corruption may find the theoretical and ethnographic focus less engaging.

As heard by us

A grounded look at Hong Kong housing, guanxi, and the long reach of Alan Smart's ideas.

The episode works through corruption in Hong Kong housing with a steady hand, moving from squatter clearance and public housing to gifts, bribes, and guanxi.

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Why you'd press play

When you want corruption explored through Hong Kong housing, informality, and how gifts and bribes get performed.

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