Rural Livelihoods in China
Political economy in transition
Routledge Explorations in Development Studies Series

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 urban-rural relationships. This book applies livelihoods approaches to deepen our understanding of the changes and continuities related to rural livelihoods within the wider context of 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 across 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 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.

This book 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 in 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.

1.Introduction: Rural Livelihood Transformation and Political Economy in China Part 1: Mobility and Livelihoods 2. Migration, Risk and Livelihood Struggles in China 3. Social Protection and Livelihoods: Providing Old-Age Social Insurance for Migrant Workers in China 4. Sustaining Livelihoods in Urban Villages – Health risks and health strategies among rural-to-urban migrants in China: The case of Guangzhou 5. Legal Activism or Class Action? The Political Economy of the "No Boss" and "No Labour Relationship" in China's Construction Industry Part 2: Sustainable livelihoods 6. Biotech Politics in an Emerging Economy: Is China a Developmental Risk Society? 7. Small Cotton Farmers, Livelihood Diversification and Policy Interventions in Southern Xinjiang 8. Rural Finance and Development in China: The state of the art and ways forward 9. The Effects of Political Recentralisation on Rural Livelihoods in Anhui 10. From Taxing to Subsidising Farmers: Designing and implementing the "Four Subsidies" in China

Heather Xiaoquan Zhang is Senior Lecturer in Chinese Social Studies at the University of Leeds, UK.