The States In Villages

This book presents a study in educational sociology, exploring the function of rural schools, which are a symbol of the state in rural society, in a time characterized by local cultural transition. The book begins with an investigation of the status quo, background and history of a representative rural school, Fengning Hope Elementary School, and gives a definition of “the ‘states’ in villages.” Subsequently, on the basis of research on the teachers, an analysis of the courses taught, and comparison to other rural elementary schools of the same type, it reveals the dual status of rural schools and their relation with social development in rural areas. Based on thorough fieldwork and empirical research, the book provides a new vision of the interactive relation between the state and rural society, particularly focusing on the role of rural education in that relation. In addition, it explores the reshaping of Chinese culture and the part that intellectuals play in the process of today’s cultural transition. For English-language readers and Western professionals, this translated version will offer an essential window into Chinese studies from a local point of view.

This book argues that common-sense convictions of rural Polish citizens are “post-peasant” or “post-agrarian”, rather than post-socialist or post-communist. In so doing, it offers a departure from the established terms of scholarly literature on the Central European transition that has focused on such concepts as “homo sovieticus” or the “post-communist mentality”. It draws on ethnographic fieldwork carried out in the early 2000s in the highland region in the south of Poland, focusing on local knowledge about the state, power, politics, and democracy. It describes how rural social imaginaries translate categories derived from the organisation of life and work at the farm into ideas about politics. In this regard, the state is seen as a huge farm, the authorities as the farmer or manager, and the nation as the farmer’s family. Politics is perceived as a dishonest but profitable profession and democracy as a political system that could only work in the Garden of Eden.

Dym's analysis of Central America's early nineteenth-century politics shows nation-state formation to be a city-driven process that transformed colonial provinces into enduring states.

This portrait of social change in the North China plain depicts how the world of the Chinese peasant evolved during an era of war and how it in turn shaped the revolutionary process. The book is based on evidence gathered from archives and interviews with villagers and rural officials.

In fact, this is the first book-length study on the farm tenancy conciliation procedure and analysis of the Japanese government's wish to maintain tradition at al cost in the farmer community.