Includes bibliographical references (pages 335-373) and index.
Contents:
1. Introduction -- 2. The changing foundations of Communist rule in China's rural society -- 3. The 1994 tax reform and rural fiscal crises -- 4. The township in the era of reform -- 5. The mechanisms of political power in villages -- 6. Village finance: its deterioration and consequences -- 7. The abolition of agricultural taxes and village governance -- 8. Transformed peasant society and re-alignment in rural politics -- 9. Entrepreneur cadres as new rural ruling elites -- 10. Prospects for China's rural governance -- Appendices.
Summary:
"This book started twelve years ago as a much smaller project which was intended to explore China's peasant burdens and grievances. At that time, I saw no clear signs suggesting that the Chinese countryside was on the eve of a great political and economic transformation. I did not anticipate that this project would take so many years to complete and eventually expand to such a scope. The two major rural reforms in the first decade of the twenty-first century, namely the tax-for-fee reform in 2002-2004 and the abolition of agricultural taxes in 2005-2006, whose effects were reinforced by the ongoing marketization of the rural economy and the rapid deterioration of rural finances, have changed China's rural politics almost beyond recognition. In terms of its economic, political, and social magnitude, this transformation by no means pales in comparison with agricultural decollectivization around the turn of the 1970s"-- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.