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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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'.

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.

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.

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.

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.