Download or read book Rural Policy Implementation in Contemporary China written by Anna Ahlers and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-01-10 with total page 286 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At the turn of the millennium, the disparities between rural and urban livelihoods, underdevelopment and administrative shortcomings in the Chinese countryside were increasingly seen as posing a manifest threat to social harmony and economic and political stability. At that time the term "three rural problems" (sannong wenti) was coined which defined the main issues of rural life that needed to be targeted by government action: agriculture (nongye), villages (nongcun) and farmers (nongmin). In turn, with the launch of the 11th Five-Year Plan in 2006, a pledge was made to shift the focus of developmental efforts to the long-neglected countryside, which is still home to half of the Chinese population. This book presents an analysis of adaptive local policy implementation in China in the context of the "Building of a New Socialist Countryside" (BNSC) policy framework. Based on intensive field work in four counties in Fujian, Jiangxi, Shaanxi and Zhejiang Provinces between 2008 and 2011, it offers detailed analyses of the form and impact of county governments’ strategic agency at certain stages and within certain fields of the implementation process (for example, the design of local BNSC programs, the steering of project funding, implementation and evaluation, the establishment of model villages and the management of public participation). Further, this study illustrates that BNSC is far more than the ‘empty slogan’ described by many observers when it was launched in 2005/2006. Instead, it has already brought about considerable shifts in terms of the process and outcomes of rural policy implementation. Altogether, the results of this research challenge existing paradigms by showing how, against the background of contemporary approaches to rural development and recent reforms initiated by the central state, local bureaucracies’ strategic agency can actually push forward effective – albeit not necessarily optimal – policy implementation to some extent, which serves the interests of central authorities, local implementors and rural residents. By tying into the larger debates on China's state capacity and authoritarian adaptability, this book enriches our understanding of the inner workings of the Chinese political system. As such, it will prove invaluable to students and scholars of Chinese politics, public policy and development studies more generally.

Download or read book Rural Policy Implementation in Contemporary China written by Anna L. Ahlers and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At the turn of the millennium, the disparities between rural and urban livelihoods, underdevelopment and administrative shortcomings in the Chinese countryside were increasingly seen as posing a manifest threat to social harmony and economic and political stability. At that time the term "three rural problems" (sannong wenti) was coined which defined the main issues of rural life that needed to be targeted by government action: agriculture (nongye), villages (nongcun) and farmers (nongmin). In turn, with the launch of the 11th Five-Year Plan in 2006, a pledge was made to shift the focus of developmental efforts to the long-neglected countryside, which is still home to half of the Chinese population. This book presents an analysis of adaptive local policy implementation in China in the context of the "Building of a New Socialist Countryside" (BNSC) policy framework. Based on intensive field work in four counties in Fujian, Jiangxi, Shaanxi and Zhejiang Provinces between 2008 and 2011, it offers detailed analyses of the form and impact of county governments' strategic agency at certain stages and within certain fields of the implementation process (for example, the design of local BNSC programs, the steering of project funding, implementation and evaluation, the establishment of model villages and the management of public participation). Further, this study illustrates that BNSC is far more than the 'empty slogan' described by many observers when it was launched in 2005/2006. Instead, it has already brought about considerable shifts in terms of the process and outcomes of rural policy implementation. Altogether, the results of this research challenge existing paradigms by showing how, against the background of contemporary approaches to rural development and recent reforms initiated by the central state, local bureaucracies' strategic agency can actually push forward effective - albeit not necessarily optimal - policy implementation to some extent, which serves the interests of central authorities, local implementors and rural residents. By tying into the larger debates on China's state capacity and authoritarian adaptability, this book enriches our understanding of the inner workings of the Chinese political system. As such, it will prove invaluable to students and scholars of Chinese politics, public policy and development studies more generally.

Download or read book Rural Politics in Contemporary China written by Emily T. Yeh and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-01-22 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection provides an overview of China’s rural politics, bringing scholarship on agrarian politics from various social science disciplines together in one place. The twelve contributions, spanning history, anthropology, sociology, environmental studies, political science, and geography, address enduring questions in peasant studies, including the relationship between states and peasants, taxation, social movements, rural-urban linkages, land rights and struggles, gender relations, and environmental politics. Taking rural politics as the power-inflected processes and struggles that shape access and control over resources in the countryside, as well as the values, ideologies and discourses that shape those processes, the volume brings research on China into conversation with the traditions and concerns of peasant studies scholarship. It provides both an introduction to those unfamiliar with Chinese politics, as well as in-depth, new research for experts in the field. This book was published as a special issue of the Journal of Peasant Studies.

Download or read book Policy Implementation in Contemporary Rural China written by Lior Rosenberg and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 710 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A case study of China's Village Redevelopment Program (VRP, hereafter), this dissertation examines how VRP has been implemented in two counties in the provinces of Shandong and Anhui. It reveals that county governments can demonstrate a surprising degree of divergence and flexibility when implementing similar policies from above. Officials in Chenggu and Beian interpreted the policy and implemented it differently; and higher-level authorities played very different roles as supervisors and subsidy providers. Government-villager relations were also very different in the two counties. Yet, outcomes were ultimately the same. In both counties officials diverged significantly from the genuine goal of VRP to decrease rural economic inequalities, instead channeling government resources to those who already have and leaving the less developed behind. To reconcile the puzzle of different forms of implementation yet similar outcomes, this dissertation focuses on both the concept of local discretion and on the larger economic-political-social environment in which local officials operate and which shape local officials' "own" decision making and actions. Through the prism of VRP, the dissertation illuminates two pressures they face - local economic conditions on the one hand and a politics of command on the other- which have influenced and shaped the modes of implementation and outcomes in each of the counties. This case study of VRP shakes one of the most common conceptualizations of hierarchical relations in the Chinese political system, the commonly used paradigm of principal-agent relations.

Download or read book Rural Reform in Contemporary China written by Yongji Xue and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page 20 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This article examines the contradictory outcomes of China's rural reform since 1978. It traces four periods of rural reform policies through cyclical rounds of policy implementation, structural transformations, and economic, social, and environmental outcomes. The analysis reveals that contradictory outcomes are embedded within conflicting goals framing rural reform policies, specifically goals to modernize China's rural regions and fair resource allocation among its inhabitants. In addition, the Chinese central government has repeatedly resorted to a top-down, campaign-style approach, creating conflicting objectives between short-term quota fulfillment and sustainable structural adjustment policies. The research suggests that the socio-environmental contradictions emerging from rural transformations in China must be viewed within the global political economic context that favors growth oriented, efficiency-based development strategies.

Download or read book China s Rural Development Policy written by Minzi Su and published by Firstforumpress. This book was released on 2009 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As China strives to achieve nothing less than a 'harmonious society' - despite the pronounced and institutionalized class structure that divides rural Chinese from urban, eastern from western, and rich from poor - a key element of that effort is a 'new socialist countryside'. The author assesses the prospects for China's rural revitalization programs now in their initial stages. The author draws on her extensive, front-line field research to discover precisely why Beijing's rural development polices, though helping many, have thus far bypassed hundreds of millions of farm households. Not least, she also identifies the capacities and political-economic conditions that hold the greatest promise for successful policy implementation. This book assesses the prospects for the rural revitalization programs that are a key element of China's quest for a 'harmonious society'.

Download or read book Contemporary China s Land Use Policy written by Long Cheng and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-09-24 with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book discusses contemporary China’s land use policy – the Link Policy – which calls for land consolidation and rural resettlement to achieve the goal of preserving farmland while also providing more space for urban development. Given the limited analyses and commentaries on the Link Policy in the literature, particularly in English-language articles, the book systematically presents and analyzes China’s land use policy by assessing the impacts of the Link Policy on rural life and how effective the Link Policy is in achieving its objectives. It also examines how satisfied farmers are with the policy and what the contributing factors are. Drawing on a critical review of the literature, field observations and interviews with resettled farmers, the book offers insights into China’s land use policy, and compares it with similar policy instruments in other countries. Presenting research findings that help readers gain a holistic understanding of the Link Policy in China and its implications, the book is a valuable resource for professionals in other developing countries that are facing similar challenges in terms of balancing urban development and farmland conservation.

Download or read book OECD Rural Policy Reviews China 2009 written by OECD and published by OECD Publishing. This book was released on 2009-05-05 with total page 261 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Analyses the key socio-economic forces at work in China's rural areas and discusses the current government strategy for rural development.

Download or read book Rural Transformations and Development China in Context written by Norman Long and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2010-01-01 with total page 409 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rural Transformations and Development China in Context is a thoughtful book in both senses penetrating and packed with ideas. True to its title, it takes the reader through the main socio-economic and political changes of Chinese rural society. The book brings together a selected group of authoritative, international experts on agricultural development with particular reference to China. It is a good read for everyone, and an eminently recommendable text for professionals and students interested in issues of China s rural change. Peter Ho, University of Groningen, The Netherlands This is an insightful and excellent theoretical and empirical collection about China s contemporary agrarian transformation critically studied not in isolation from either the urban sector or the broader world, but in relation to these. It is a must-read for academics and development policy practitioners who are interested in agrarian and development issues in China in particular and the world more generally. Saturnino M. Borras Jr, Saint Mary s University, Canada Bringing together contributions by some of the leading Western scholars working on paths of rural transformation with studies by their counterparts in China, this book examines the value of contemporary development theories for understanding the specificities of China s trajectory of change. It is a first-class contribution both to Modern China studies and to the renaissance of international research on agrarian change that is now going on. It deserves a wide readership. John Harriss, Simon Fraser University at Vancouver, Canada Interesting comparative perspectives are coupled to extensive on-the-ground research in this exploration of the vast changes underway in China s villages. This book by 19 specialists pushes forward our knowledge of the circumstances and challenges faced by an eighth of humankind. Jonathan Unger, Australian National University This unique book explores the varied perspectives on contemporary processes of rural transformation and policy intervention in China. The expert contributors combine a critical review of current theoretical viewpoints and global debates with a series of case studies that document the specificities of China s pathways to change. Central issues focus on the dynamics of state peasant encounters; the diversification of labour and livelihoods; out-migration and the blurring of rural and urban scenarios; the significance of issues of value and capital and their gender implications; land ownership and sustainable resource management; struggles between administrative cadres and local actors; and the dilemmas of participatory development. Rural Transformations and Development China in Context will prove a fascinating and stimulating read for academics and researchers in the areas of Asian studies, development and agriculture, and public policy.

Download or read book Making Rural Finance in Contemporary China written by Leqian Yu and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since the 2000s, the changing global financial landscape has attracted increasing attention from geographers, particularly after the 2008 financial crisis. China's rural banking sector, still a marginal site in research on the geographies of finance, is a fast-growing financial frontier. In the decade since 2008, bank credit issued to the rural sector has increased six fold to 4.6 trillion USD in 2018. The rapid expansion of this financial frontier owes much to ongoing reforms led by the Chinese state. Since 2003, the Chinese government has been initiating a series of market-based reforms aimed at building a "modern rural financial system" to better support farmers, agriculture and rural development. This dissertation explores the changes that have reshaped the banking system in rural China as a distinct case of financialization. Building on economic geography scholarship that argues the need for financialization to be understood as place-specific social processes, this research adopts a multi-scalar approach. I link a macro-level political economic analysis of China's rural financial policies with ground-level observation of financial practice. Primary research methods include ethnographically-informed research in a rural bank in Greater Chengdu Area (Sichuan Province), and textual analysis of policy documents and historical archives. The research finds that the transformation of the banking system in rural China that began in the early 2000s has an internal logic shaped by the political economic conditions of contemporary China, with traces of the ideals and practices of socialist development in China. Given such, China's rural financialization cannot be framed as following a straightforward neoliberalization process, the often-applied meta-frame for financialization. Rather than providing a local variant of neoliberal globalization, I argue that financialization in rural China needs to be understood as a localized, contextualized process - the trajectory of which is shaped by contested logics operating at multiple scales.

Download or read book Improving Village Governance in Contemporary China written by Xuefeng He and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2021-02-08 with total page 345 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Based on an in-depth investigation of different regions of China's vast countryside, Improving Village Governance in Contemporary China vividly describes rural governance mechanisms against the background of China's rapid urbanization. China’s rural areas vary greatly from region to region with respect to the pace and mode of change. Rural governance in China is decided by how the state transfers resources to villages, and by the linkage between the transfer style and the specific situation of each village. Only when grassroots governance is based on rural democracy (with peasants as the core) can villages become more harmonious.

Download or read book The Palgrave Handbook of Local Governance in Contemporary China written by Jianxing Yu and published by Springer. This book was released on 2019-01-07 with total page 767 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This Handbook provides a comprehensive overview of local governance in China, and offers original analysis of key factors underpinning trends in this field drawing on the expertise of scholars both inside and outside China. It explores and analyzes the dynamic interaction and collaboration among multiple governmental and non-governmental actors and social sectors with an interest in the conduct of public affairs to address horizontal challenges faced by the local government, society, economy, and civil community and considers key issues such as governance in urban and rural areas, the impact of technology on governance and related issues of education, healthcare, environment and energy. As the result of a global and interdisciplinary collaboration of leading experts, this Handbook offers a cutting-edge insight into the characteristics, challenges and trends of local governance and emphasizes the promotion of good governance and democratic development in China.

Download or read book One Country Two Societies written by Martin K. Whyte and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2010-02-25 with total page 462 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A collection of essays that analyzes China's foremost social cleavage: the rural-urban gap. It examines the historical background of rural-urban relations; the size and trend in the income gap between rural and urban residents; aspects of inequality apart from income; and, experiences of discrimination, particularly among urban migrants." -- BOOK PUBLISHER WEBSITE.

Download or read book Politics and Markets in Rural China written by Björn Alpermann and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2012-03-29 with total page 254 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Thirty years have passed since the beginning of the reform era in China which saw important changes in agriculture and rural organizations, but it is clear that certain entrenched legacies from pre-reform China still linger on even after WTO accession, most importantly the key role played by state actors and politics in the development of markets in rural China. Although increasingly diversified markets have emerged for major agricultural inputs and products, their development cannot be understood without taking this role into account. Against this backdrop, the contributors to this book offer a fresh account of rural politics and markets, consciously linking these two realms and highlighting their interconnectedness. The book is organized in three parts addressing respectively markets for agricultural inputs and outputs as well as current policies in rural development. The perspectives adopted link macro- and micro-level analysis in each chapter and thus contribute substantially to our understanding of existing markets. As an original account of rural politics and markets in China this book will appeal to students and scholars of Chinese politics, economics, development studies and political economy.

Download or read book Local Government and Politics in China written by Yang Zhong and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-02-18 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After over a decade of administrative and economic reform in mainland China, the center has become increasingly remote and less important for many localities. In many ways, the mobilization capacity of the central government has been weakened. Central government policies are often ignored and local officials are often more interested in personal projects than in centrally directed economic plans. In this study of local government and politics in China, the author explores when and why local government officials comply with policy directives from above. Drawing on interviews with government officials in various municipalities and a review of county records and other government documents, he provides the first in-depth look at policy implementation at the county and township levels in the PRC. The book examines the impact of the Chinese cadre system on the behavior of local officials, local party and government structure, relationships among various levels of Chinese local government, policy supervision mechanisms at local levels, village governance of China, and more.

Download or read book The Rural Modern written by Kate Merkel-Hess and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2016-08-17 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Discussions of China’s early twentieth-century modernization efforts tend to focus almost exclusively on cities, and the changes, both cultural and industrial, seen there. As a result, the communist peasant revolution appears as a decisive historical break. Kate Merkel-Hess corrects that misconception by demonstrating how crucial the countryside was for reformers in China long before the success of the communist revolution. In The Rural Modern, Merkel-Hess shows that Chinese reformers and intellectuals created an idea of modernity that was not simply about what was foreign and new, as in Shanghai and other cities, but instead captured the Chinese people’s desire for social and political change rooted in rural traditions and institutions. She traces efforts to remake village education, economics, and politics, analyzing how these efforts contributed to a new, inclusive vision of rural Chinese life. Merkel-Hess argues that as China sought to redefine itself, such rural reform efforts played a major role, and tensions that emerged between rural and urban ways deeply informed social relations, government policies, and subsequent efforts to create a modern nation during the communist period.

Download or read book Social Construction In Contemporary China written by Xueyi Lu and published by World Scientific. This book was released on 2017-05-19 with total page 395 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Placing the modernization of China in a historical context, Social Construction in Contemporary China provides a powerful argument that social construction is instrumental for the country's modernization process and a key factor in China’s national rejuvenation. A wide range of topics and issues related to social construction are covered, including people's livelihood and social undertakings, income distribution, urban and rural communities, community organizations, social management, social norms, reforms of social institutions and systems, social restructuring and the process of social construction. In addition to well-informed and insightful analyses of these subjects that draw on the country's historical experiences, contributors also provide policy suggestions on how to tackle problems and respond to challenges. Its breadth and depth make this volume a valuable addition to the growing body of literature on this important topic.