Rural Livelihoods in China 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 urbanrural relationships This book applies livelihoods approaches to deepen our understanding of the changes and continuities related to rural livelihoods within the wider context of the 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 around 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 the 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 Rural Livelihoods in China 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 of 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 Heather Xiaoquan Zhang is Senior Lecturer in Chinese Social Studies at the University of Leeds, UK Routledge explorations in Development Studies This Development Studies series features innovative and original research at the regional and global scale It promotes interdisciplinary scholarly works drawing on a wide spectrum of subject areas, in particular politics, health, economics, rural and urban studies, sociology, environment, anthropology, and conflict studies Topics of particular interest are globalization; emerging powers; children and youth; cities; education; media and communication; technology development; and climate change In terms of theory and method, rather than basing itself on any orthodoxy, the series draws broadly on the tool kit of the social sciences in general, emphasizing comparison, the analysis of the structure and processes, and the application of qualitative and quantitative methods The Domestic Politics of Foreign Aid Erik Lundsgaarde Social Protection in Developing Countries Reforming systems Katja Bender, Markus Kaltenborn and Christian Pfleiderer Formal Peace and Informal War Security and development in Congo Zoë Marriage Technology Development Assistance for Agriculture Putting research into use in low income countries Norman Clark, Andy Frost, Ian Maudlin and Andrew Ward Statelessness and Citizenship Camps and the creation of political space Victoria Redclift Governance for Pro-Poor Urban Development Lessons from Ghana Franklin Obeng-Odoom Nationalism, Law and Statelessness Grand illusions in the Horn of Africa John R Campbell HIV and east Africa Thirty years in the shadow of an epidemic Janet Seeley evaluation Methodologies for Aid in Conflict Edited by Ole Winckler Andersen, Beate Bull and Megan Kennedy-Chouane Digital Technologies for Democratic Governance in Latin America Opportunities and risks Edited by Anita Breuer and Yanina Welp Governance Reform in Africa International and domestic pressures and counter-pressures Jérôme Bachelard economic Development and Political Action in the Arab World M A Mohamed Salih Development and Welfare Policy in South Asia Edited by Gabriele Koehler and Deepta Chopra Confronting Land and Property Problems for Peace Edited by Shinichi Takeuchi Socio-economic Insecurity in emerging economies Building new spaces Edited by Khayaat Fakier and Ellen Ehmke Foreign Aid and emerging Powers Asian perspectives on official development assistance Iain Watson The Political ecology of Climate Change Adaptation Livelihoods, agrarian change and the conflicts of development Marcus Taylor China’s Foreign Relations and the Survival of Autocracies Julia Bader Democratic Accountability and Human Development Regimes, institutions and resources Kamran Ali Afzal and Mark Considine Rural Livelihoods in China Political economy in transition Edited by Heather Xiaoquan Zhang “Rural Livelihoods in China challenges us to transcend modernist frameworks in the analysis of China’s massive historical transformation and its attendant social development issues By examining the struggle over rural livelihoods in China through the double lens of sustainability and mobility, this superb collection eloquently demonstrates why debates on China should move to the center stage in mainstream and critical debates on development alike Through careful empirical research, policy analysis, and far-sighted theoretical argumentation, successive chapters accomplish a significant rearticulation of established concepts in livelihood analysis What emerges from these pages, in the last instance, is a much enriched and transformed view of both Chinese studies and development theory and practice.” Arturo escobar, University of North Carolina, USA “This collection by leading scholars urges us to critically rethink the taken-forgranted urban-biased development and modernization discourse that has been dominating China’s development for decades It invites all readers to think deeply about a basic question, that is, what kind of life rural people really want? And what kind of countryside a developmental state could allow rural people to have?” Jingzhong Ye, China Agricultural University, China “Without losing sight of the specificities of each case in China’s historical and social contexts, chapters in this collection subject a range of timely topics to analytical interrogation from the livelihood perspective This is a book that offers rich empirical details and insightful theoretical discussions for both China experts, and students and scholars in development studies.” Qian Forrest Zhang, Singapore Management University, Singapore Rural Livelihoods in China Political economy in transition edited by Heather Xiaoquan Zhang First published 2015 by Routledge Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2015 Heather Xiaoquan Zhang The right of the editor to be identified as the author of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 All rights reserved No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Rural livelihoods in China : political economy in transition / edited by Heather Xiaoquan Zhang pages cm Includes index Rural development–China Labor market–China Rural-urban migration–China China–Rural conditions China–Economic conditions I Zhang, Heather Xiaoquan HN740.Z9C66866 2015 307.1’2120951–dc23 2014036184 ISBN: 978-0-415-84467-3 (hbk) ISBN: 978-0-203-75074-2 (ebk) Typeset in Goudy by Cenveo Publisher Services Contents List of figures List of tables Notes on contributors List of abbreviations Introduction: rural livelihood transformation and political economy in China ix x xi xiii H EAT H ER X I A OQUAN Z HANG PART I Mobility and livelihoods 19 21 Migration, risk and livelihood struggles in China H EAT H ER X I A OQUAN Z HANG Social protection and livelihoods: providing old-age social insurance for migrant workers in China 48 A ND R EW WATS ON Sustaining livelihoods in urban villages: health risks and health strategies among rural-to-urban migrants in China – the case of Guangzhou 74 B E T T I NA GR A NS OW Legal activism or class action? The political economy of the “no boss” and “no labour relationship” in China’s construction industry N GA I PU N A ND Y I XU 93 viii Contents PART II Sustainable livelihoods Biotech politics in an emerging economy: is China a developmental risk society? 109 111 J E N N I F E R H Z HAO, P E TE R HO, DAY UAN XUE AND JAC A A SWART Small cotton farmers, livelihood diversification and policy interventions in Southern Xinjiang 131 M A X S P O O R , XI AOP I NG S HI AND CHUNL I NG PU Rural finance and development in China: the state of the art and ways forward 151 H E AT H E R X I AOQUAN Z HANG AND NI CHOL AS LOUBER E The effects of political recentralisation on rural livelihoods in Anhui, China 175 G R A E M E S MI TH 10 From taxing to subsidising farmers: designing and implementing the “four subsidies” in China 195 L O U I S AU G U S TI N- J E AN AND Y E WANG Glossary of Chinese terms Index 215 218 Figures 2.1 4.1 5.1 7.1 The proportions of major occupational illnesses in China, 2002 An urban village in Guangzhou The subcontracting system Change in cotton prices, 1999–2010 (yuan per tonne) 30 76 96 139 ... livelihoods in China : political economy in transition / edited by Heather Xiaoquan Zhang pages cm Includes index Rural development China Labor market China Rural- urban migration China China Rural. .. 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