State-peasant relations in 20th-century China
Date
1998
Authors
Lansdowne, Helen
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
This study is a socio-economic and political analysis of peasant-state relations in 20th Century China. Peasants as families, as communities, and as a socio-political stratum have been greatly affected by the relative strength of the central state which at different times has ranged from near disintegration to almost complete, centralized control of society. Employing a historical approach, I have examined the changes undergone by both the national and the local state, and I have considered what bearing these changes have had on the world of the Chinese peasant. Reaction to the reach of the central state has been at two levels, that of the local cadre and that of the peasant. These two entities have at times operated in concert and at others in conflict with one another. As China is a vast country with regions marked by great physical and social differentiation, this study uses a comparative approach and concentrates on the North China Plain and the Pearl River Delta as two areas of study. The findings suggest that although regional differentiation should not be dismissed, the differences in peasant state relations are not only between macro-regions such as the North and the South, but are apparent also within regions.