Download or read book Support for Economic and Political Change in the China Countryside written by Samuel James Eldersveld and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2001 with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Samuel J. Eldersveld and Mingming Shen, the authors of this important 'two-wave' study, illuminate a unique and richly contoured view of Chinese attitudes about political and economic reform. They base their findings on the responses of a panel of over 800 mass respondents, approximately 1,300 interviews with villagers, and 250 interviews with cadres. The authors provide extensive analysis of their data and find that the level of popular support for reform and support for democratic values is surprisingly high. Of particular interest is the examination of support for political, specifically citizen, participation--contacting officials, attending party and village meetings, and voting for village committees. The authors find significant variance in mass and cadres beliefs, but Eldersveld and Shen's findings provide impressive new data for the study of economic and political development in China, and the possibility of democracy in the future.

Download or read book China s New Socialist Countryside written by Russell Harwood and published by University of Washington Press. This book was released on 2013-10-13 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Based on ethnographic fieldwork, this case study examines the impact of economic development on ethnic minority people living along the upper-middle reaches of the Nu (Salween) River in Yunnan. In this highly mountainous, sparsely populated area live the Lisu, Nu, and Dulong (Drung) people, who until recently lived as subsistence farmers, relying on shifting cultivation, hunting, the collection of medicinal plants from surrounding forests, and small-scale logging to sustain their household economies. China's New Socialist Countryside explores how compulsory education, conservation programs, migration for work, and the expansion of social and economic infrastructure are not only transforming livelihoods, but also intensifying the Chinese Party-state’s capacity to integrate ethnic minorities into its political fabric and the national industrial economy.

Download or read book Political Culture and Participation in Rural China written by Yang Zhong and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-06-17 with total page 146 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Despite China’s rapid urbanisation and industrialisation, most Chinese still live in the vast countryside or have rural household registration. Although there was significant economic improvement in rural areas in the 1980s, the rural economy has been stagnating or deteriorating since then, and the book argues that the rural-urban income gap is giving rise to the potential for political instability throughout China. This book, based on extensive original research including interview fieldwork in rural areas, examines the nature of political culture and participation in rural China, discussing issues such as the support, or lack of it, for democratic values; levels of political interest; the ways in which Chinese peasants interact with village and local officials; subjective factors that motivate them to vote, (or not to vote) in village elections; and rural people’s views on market-oriented economic reforms, local and national government, and the Communist Party. The book argues that although hitherto peasants’ riots, sit-ins and demonstrations have been localised and uncoordinated, they are frequent, and have the potential to cause serious political crises for China’s rulers. It concludes by considering the future political development of China’s vast countryside.

Download or read book Peasants and Revolution in Rural China written by Chang Liu and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2007-05-14 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores rural political change in China from 1850 to 1949 to help us understand China’s transformation from a weak, decaying agrarian empire to a unified, strong nation-state during this period. Based on local gazetteers, contemporary field studies, government archives, personal memoirs and other primary sources, it systematically compares two key macro-regions of rural China – the North China plain and the Yangzi delta – to demonstrate the ways in which the forces of political change, shaped by different local conditions, operated to transform the country. It shows that on the North China plain, the village community composed mainly of owner-cultivators was the focal point for political mobilization, whilst in the Yangzi delta absentee landlordism was exploited by the state for local control and tax extraction. However, these both set the stage, in different ways, for the communist mobilization in the first half of the twentieth century. Peasants and Revolution in Rural China is an important addition to the literature on the history of the Chinese Revolution, and will be of interest to anyone seeking to understand the course of Chinese social and political development.

Download or read book Power and Wealth in Rural China written by Susan H. Whiting and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2006-11-02 with total page 372 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book focuses on China's rural industries, offering an innovative, theoretical framework to explain insitutional change. Susan Whiting explores the complex interactions of individuals, institutions, and the broader political economy to examine variation and change in property rights and extractive institutions in China's rural industrial sector. Whiting explains why public ownership predominated during the early years of reform and why privatization is now taking place. This book will be of interest not only to students and scholars of Chinese economic development, but also of comparative politics and political economy more generally.

Download or read book The Transformation of Governance in Rural China written by An Chen and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2014-12-18 with total page 409 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The outbreak of organised, violent peasant protests across the Chinese countryside from the late 1990s to the early 2000s has attracted much scholarly interest. In this study, An Chen endeavours to understand from these protests the question of the Chinese government's control in the countryside and the impact of this violent resistance on China's rural governance in the context of market liberalisation. Utilising extensive field research and data collected from surveys across rural China, the book provides an in-depth exploration of how rural governance in China has been transformed following two major tax reforms: the tax-for-fee reform of 2002–4, and the abolition of agricultural taxes (AAT) in 2005–6. In a multidimensional analysis which combines approaches from political science, economics, finance and sociology, Chen argues that private economic power has merged with political power in a way that has reshaped village governance in China, threatening to fundamentally change its political structure.

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 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 Patronage and Power written by Ben Hillman and published by Stanford University Press. This book was released on 2014-05-14 with total page 217 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Power and Patronage examines the unwritten rules and inner workings of contemporary China's local politics and government. It exposes how these rules have helped to keep the one-Party state together during decades of tumultuous political, social, and economic change. While many observers of Chinese politics have recognized the importance of informal institutions, this book explains how informal local groups actually operate, paying special attention to the role of patronage networks in political decision-making, political competition, and official corruption. While patronage networks are often seen as a parasite on the formal institutions of state, Hillman shows that patronage politics actually help China's political system function. In a system characterized by fragmented authority, personal power relations, and bureaucratic indiscipline, patronage networks play a critical role in facilitating policy coordination and bureaucratic bargaining. They also help to regulate political competition within the state, which reduces the potential for open conflict. Understanding patronage networks is essential for understanding the resilience of the Chinese state through decades of change. Power and Patronage is filled with rich and fascinating accounts of the machinations of patronage networks and their role in the ruthless and sometimes violent competition for political power.

Download or read book Rural China written by Jie Fan and published by East Gate Book. This book was released on 2006 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book reports the findings of two field studies between 1993 and 2001 in seven townships and six provinces in China. The authors find that the process of rural urbanization is bringing about profound economic, social, and political changes that are weakening the dominance of the central government.

Download or read book Political Leadership and Political Change in the Chinese Countryside written by Shan Wei and published by . This book was released on 2017-06-07 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book, based on extensive original research including survey research in the Chinese countryside, examines how market reforms and the changing nature of the Chinese state have made a huge impact on how ordinary Chinese people in rural areas relate to authority. The book explores the nature of leadership, "followership" and authority. It argues that recent changes in China are bringing about a less authoritarian, more egalitarian style of leadership where superior-subordinate relationships based on formal hierarchical structures are being replaced by a style of leadership characterised by mutual trust and non-coercion, where the leader directs, arouses, engages and satisfies the motives and intentions of the led. It goes on to argue that this different style of leadership is having profound consequences, widely, for social cohesion, good governance, and efficiency in economic production and service provision. Moreover, the book concludes, this changed relationship between citizens and officials is highly pertinent to the future political development of China overall, with the potential to bring about very significant changes.

Download or read book Institutional Reform and Economic Development in the Chinese Countryside written by Griffin and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-07-08 with total page 347 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First Published in 1985. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an Informa company.

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 Social Mobilisation in Post Industrial China written by Jia Gao and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2019 with total page 362 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In recent years China has experienced intense economic development. Previously a rapidly urbanising industrial economy, the country has become a post-industrial economy with a service sector that accounts for almost half the nation’s GDP. This transformation has created many socio-political changes, but key among them is social mobilisation. This book provides a full and systematic analysis of social mobilisation in China, and how its use as part of state capacity has evolved.

Download or read book Rural China Takes Off written by Jean C. Oi and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 1999-05-17 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A distinctive and important contribution."—Thomas P. Bernstein, author of Up to the Mountains and Down to the Villages

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 Rural Livelihoods in China written by Heather Xiaoquan Zhang and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-03-27 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In recent decades, China has undergone rapid economic growth, industrialisation and urbanisation concomitant with deep and extensive structural and social change, profoundly reshaping the country’s development landscape and urban-rural relationships. This book applies livelihoods approaches to deepen our understanding of the changes and continuities related to rural livelihoods within the wider context of political economy of development in post-socialist China, bridging the urban and rural scenarios and probing the local, national and global dynamics that have impacted on livelihood, in particular its mobility, security and sustainability. Presenting theoretically informed and empirically grounded research by leading scholars from across the world, this book offers multidisciplinary perspectives on issues central to rural livelihoods, development, welfare and well-being. It documents and analyses the processes and consequences of change, focusing on social protection of mobile livelihoods, particularly rural migrants’ citizenship rights in the city, and the environmental, social and political aspects of sustainability in the countryside. This book contributes to the current scholarly and policy debates, and is among the first attempts to critically reflect on China’s market transition and the associated pathways to change. It will be of interest to students in international development studies, China studies, social policy, public health, political science, and environmental studies at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, as well as academics, policy makers and practitioners who are concerned with China’s human and social development in general, and agriculture and rural livelihoods in particular.