Politics And Markets In Rural China

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.

Explores the economic, social and financial changes that have transformed China's rural governance over the past twenty years.

Written by a team of leading China scholars this text interrogates the dynamics of state power and legitimation in 21st Century China. Despite the continuing economic successes and rising international prestige of China there has been increasing social protests over corruption, land seizures, environmental concerns, and homeowner movements. Such political contestation presents an opportunity to explore the changes occurring in China today – what are the goals of political contestation, how are Chinese Communist Party leaders legitimizing their rule, who are the specific actors involved in contesting state legitimacy today and what are the implications of changing state-society relations for the future viability of the People’s Republic? Key subjects covered include: the legitimacy of the Communist Party internet censorship ethnic resistance rural and urban contention nationalism youth culture labour relations. Chinese Politics is an essential read for all students and scholars of contemporary China as well as those interested in the dynamics of political and social change.

China's agricultural production and food consumption have increased tremendously, leading to a complete evolution of agro-food markets. The book is divided into two parts; the first part reviews the theoretical framework for the 'social construction of the markets,' while the second part presents the implication for the agro-food markets in China.

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.

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.

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.

This study focuses on the effects of market reform on the life chances of rural people in China. Based on comparative ethnographical evidence from three townships of rural Guangdong province, this book provides a more recent and detailed story about the social inequality in rural China, a further explanation for the institutional analysis on the social stratification of China, a new typology of the developmental results and the changing roles of political elite of rural china.