Relationship between Land-lost Farmers and Local Government in China (eBook)

Hongping Lian is an Associate Professor and Vice Director of the MPA Program at Beijing Normal University’s School of Government, as well as Vice Dean of the University’s Academy of Government. She received her PhD from the University of Aberdeen, UK, and pursued postdoctoral research at the Department of Policy, City University of Hong Kong. Her primary areas of scholarship are political sociology and land policy. She has co-published a monograph – The China Well-Being (Minsheng) Development Report (2012) – in English, and has published over 10 articles in key journals such as World Development and Journal of Youth Studies. She has been involved in several projects, including one National Social Science Project. Several annual research reports she has spearheaded have received considerable attention from national leaders including Premier Li Keqiang.

1 Introduction1.1 The Topic1.2 Background: Urbanisation1.3 The Two Parties under Concern1.3.1 Land-lost Farmers: The Issue1.3.2 Local Government: Its Operational Mechanism1.4 The Conflict1.4.1 The Development of Conflict1.4.2 The Interpretation of Conflict1.5 Research Question1.6 Methodology1.7 Outline of the Book   2 Literature Review and Theoretical Setting2.1 Conflict Theory2.1.1 Coser’s Functional Approach to Conflict2.1.2 Dahrendorf’s Dialectical Approach to Conflict2.2 Land and Farmers2.2.1 Land as Property and Life Support System2.2.2 Marginalisation of the Peasantry2.3 Land Ownership and Urbanisation2.3.1 Land Ownership2.3.2 Urbanisation and Urban Development2.3.3 Urbanisation and Land Ownership2.4 Conflictual Relationship between Farmers and Authorities2.4.1 On the Part of FarmersResistance StudiesFarmers’ Resistance2.4.2 On the Part of AuthoritiesAuthorities’ Response2.5 Structuration Theory2.5.1 Social Integration and System Integration2.5.2 Modalities2.5.3 Stratification Model of Social Behaviour2.5.4 Dialectic of Control2.6 Structurational Relationship between Farmers and Authorities2.6.1 Within a Structure2.6.2 Forces of Integration and Conflict2.6.3 Dynamic Interplay2.7 Combination of Conflict and Structuration Theories3 Methodology3.1 The Objective of the Research3.2 Research Method3.3 Outline of the Setting and the Sample3.3.1 Selection of the Study Sites3.3.2 Selection of Subjects3.4 Research Technique3.4.1 Basic Questionnaire Survey3.4.2 Semi-structured Interviews3.4.3 Participant Observation3.4.4 Documentary Analysis3.5 Practice3.5.1 Material-collectingMy Personal BiographyGetting Access to Respondents: My PowerlessnessHandling My Power3.5.2 Material-analysingRealising My powerHandling Power Relations in the FieldHandling Respondent’s UtterancesEthics Management3.5.3 Writing-upWriting Myself into the DataWriting StyleManifestation of Reflexivity3.5.4 Unavoidable Limits4 Local Setting and Institutional Norms4.1 The Local Setting4.2 Institutional Norms4.2.1 The Role of NormsNorms as Structuring MechanismsNorms as Social Construction4.2.2 Institutional Space of Urban Development and Land ExpropriationPolitical SystemLegal SystemEconomic System4.2.3 Changing Resettlement Approaches and the ‘Issue of Land-lost Farmers’During the Era of the Planned EconomyAgricultural RelocationEmployment ResettlementDuring the Era of the Socialist Market EconomyMonetary ResettlementReserve-land Resettlement4.2.4 Institutional Problems of Land ExpropriationScope and JustificationFair CompensationInconsistent Levels of CompensationFarmers’ Rights and Interests4.2.5 Specific Policy Situation of Changsha4.2.6 Another Institutional Approach Open to Land-lost Farmers4.3 Summary and Discussion5 Interpretations and Situations5.1 Subjective Interpretations5.1.1 Land-lost Farmers’ Expression‘The policies of the central government are good but cannot be properly implemented’‘We do not know why those people can live so happily’‘It is unknown for what the money of the collective has been used’‘We are so desperate as to have to “rebel”’‘The court does not accept and hear our cases. What the media say is not trustworthy’5.1.2 Local Government’s Discourse‘Why are they still not satisfied under the greatly improved circumstances’‘They have too low educational level to understand policies’‘The actions of land-lost farmers are morally unjustifiable’‘We have to assume all blame’5.1.3 Contrasting Interpretative Schemes5.2 Objective Situations5.2.1 Land-lost Farmers’ PlightUnequal Share of InterestsUrban-Rural DistinctionSocial Dislocation5.2.2 Local Government’s Administrative LogicPositional AwkwardnessInstitutional Pressure AssumedEconomic and Administrative Logic and DilemmaPredicament of Local Administration5.2.3 Mutually Constrained Resources6 Facility of Power: on the Part of Land-lost Farmers6.1 Possibility for Facility of Power6.2 Groundwork: Getting Accountable6.2.1 Familiarity and Practicability6.2.2 Speaking out, Romanticising, and Spreading Misery6.2.3 Arming Actions with Legitimacy6.3 Core Manifestation: Interests-striving Activities6.3.1 Within RulesSlippageSeeking Loopholes6.3.2 Partial Use, Disregard, and Contravention of Rules6.3.3 Rationality behind Seemingly Irrational Actions6.4 Other Manifestation: Ingratiation6.5 Are the Interests-striving Activities Organised?6.5.1 General Condition: Internal DisharmonyIndigenous CategorisationsThe ActivistsThe FollowersThe GrumblersThe OvercautiousThose Who In Fact See the Local Government’s Position as JustifiedIndication as Quasi-groups6.5.2 Special Case: Unstable Organisation7 Facility of Power: on the Part of Local Government7.1 Expanding Rationality7.2 Officials’ Attitudes7.2.1 Control and Appeasement7.2.2 Hierarchical Distribution of Attitudes7.3 Government Apparatus7.3.1 Local Personnel7.3.2 The City’s Institutions7.3.3 The City’s Changing Policies7.4 Negotiation7.4.1 Kaikouzi7.4.2 Positively Managing Appeals7.5 Imposition7.5.1 Forceful Removal7.5.2 Badingzi7.6 Between Negotiation and Imposition7.6.1 Jiefang7.6.2 Peifang7.6.3 Delay7.7 Capacity for Facility of Power7.7.1 Structural Approach7.7.2 Agential Approach8 Conclusion & Discussion8.1 Relationship as Integration and Conflict8.2 Relationship as Process8.3 Applicability of the Theories Used8.4 Directions for Further Research9 Appendices 9.1 Core Definitions9.1.1 Land-lost Farmers9.1.2 Local Government9.1.3 Appeal / Letters and Visits9.2 Glossary of Important Chinese Terms9.3 Context of Appeal System9.3.1 The Development of Appeal in Traditional ChinaAn OutlineThree Representative Forms of Traditional AppealJi DengwenguYaochejiaShangbiaoThe End of Traditional Appeal in China: Jingkong in the Qing Dynasty9.3.2 The Cleavage: The Republican Era9.3.3 The System of Letters and Visits9.3.4 The Relevance of Contemporary Appeal to Traditional Appeal9.3.5 The Momentum of Traditional Appeal9.3.6 The Momentum of Letters and Visits: Between Institution and ConsciousnessAn Institutional DesignIts Own LegitimacyIts Comparable LegitimacyA Conscious Choice9.3.7 Appraisal of the System of Letters and VisitsDemeritsMerits