China and Africa: Can They Cross the Borders of System and Culture? - A Business Anthropology Research on an Unsuccessful Glass Factory Project Owned by a Sino-Botswana Joint Venture

Abstract

This paper is about the long term and in-depth fieldwork on a glass factory project executed by a Sino-Botswana joint venture. The background of bilateral relations between China and Botswana from diachronic perspectives is introduced, firstly. This provides the context for discussing the origin of the project. Then, the paper reveals the cooperative and conflictive aspects embedded in the construction of the factory from synchronic perspectives, through data obtained from participant observation. These include operation mode, Chinese company’s adaption to Botswana local laws and regulations, the gaming between the partners, industrial diversification of Botswana, impacts of political struggle in Botswana on the project, etc. This paper further juxtaposes the discourse generated by the media with in-depth interviews with all parties involved in the projects to show the tremendous differences between these two distinct cultures, systems, and ideologies.