Deagrarianization and Depeasantization: A Dynamic Process of Transformation in Rural China

Centering on the terms of “deagrarianization” 去农化 and “depeasantization” 去小农化, this article aims to reinterpret socioeconomic changes in rural China from a theoretical and global perspective. Deagrarianization and depeasantization interwove to shape the dynamic process of rural transformation. Throughout the reform era, rural China underwent a transition from “deagrarianization without depeasantization” to “salient depeasantization.” In the end, deagrarianization led to a continual process of rural deterioration and at the same time turned rural China into a space of complexity. Depeasantization has been diversifying Chinese agriculture into multiple organizational forms. The mode of “part-time worker and part-time farmer” that emerged in the process of deagrarianization is gradually yielding to the specializing mode of “full-time farmer” or “full-time worker” during depeasantization. The strategy of rural revitalization should be adjusted dynamically on the basis of a recognition of these two interwoven processes.

Agricultural Involution and Bureaucratic Involution: Types, Concepts, Empirical Generalizations, and Theoretical Mechanisms

The article reviews the history of the word “involution,” the empirical basis of the concept of “agricultural involution,” and the mechanisms operating behind that phenomenon. It then considers the very different empirical bases and mechanisms of “bureaucratic involution.” State and peasant might interact in a positive way that leads to development – as when the state in the Reform era gave peasants the power and right to respond to market stimuli and develop the “labor and capital dual intensifying” “new agriculture” that has led to genuine development, demonstrating how small peasants have been the true primary subjects of Chinese agriculture and the true key to genuine agricultural development. By contrast, if bureaucratic involution should force on peasants policies that run counter to realities, it can lead to malignant “ultra-involution.” Similar consequences can be seen in spheres with scarce opportunities relative to the number of people seeking them, once they are placed under the forces of bureaucratic involution, as in the “examinations-above-all-else education system” as well as in similar (public and private) enterprise management. That is why the word “involution” has recently triggered such widespread resonance among so very many people. What is needed is state-party policies that truly accord with the interests of the people and draw their active participation. That kind of combination is what can check tendencies toward ultra-involution.

Patterns of Agricultural Diversification in China and Its Policy Implications for Agricultural Modernization

Based on the value of agricultural farm products produced by different subsectors in China, the foregoing analysis reveals the dynamic character of agricultural diversification by which, this study seeks to examine the evolutionary process of Chinese agriculture through a quantitative study of agricultural diversification at both national and provincial levels. In the initial stages of reform and opening up, the degree of agricultural diversification in the southwest was relatively high; then the center of agricultural diversification gradually moved to the southeast of China; finally, the degree of agricultural diversification in the economically developed eastern provinces was obviously higher than those in other regions in 2019. It was seen that some provinces in the eastern and central south regions moved toward increasing diversification in one direction, and other provinces changed direction, first moving toward diversification and later toward concentration or vice versa. These oscillations implied that there was a cyclic tendency of agricultural diversification along with an increase in per capita GDP. Generally speaking, the patterns of diversification differed across regions due to diversified agricultural subsectors resulting from different natural and socio-economic circumstances. In particular, in less developed regions with lower agricultural diversification levels, farming agriculture persistently dominated the leading position with relatively more resistance to modernizing trends in other aspects of agriculture. It is urgent for the Chinese government to figure out ways off reconciling agricultural productivity with environmental quality through the ecological intensification of agriculture.

Greening Chinese agriculture: can China use the EU experience?

PurposeChina's Government in 2015 announced its goal of stabilizing the use of fertilizers and pesticide by the year 2020. However, implementation of effective policies is not straightforward, while one may even argue that the policy goal is by far not ambitious enough. Hence, it is useful to look at experiences of other countries that have gone through a similar process. In this paper, the authors explicitly consider the case of European Union's (EU’s) policies aimed at greening agriculture. The choice for the EU is motivated by the fact that the EU is about 35 years ahead of China in implementing a policy agenda to counter the problems China is facing now.Design/methodology/approachIn this paper, the authors focus on agricultural inputs, in particular fertilizer and pesticides, as well as land use and their impact on food safety, air and water quality, soil degradation, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and biodiversity. Policies related to those issues are discussed for both, China and the EU. Given that implementation and monitoring are critical for the success of policies, the authors also discuss how policies are implemented and monitored under different governance and institutional conditions.FindingsFrom the EU experiences, positive and negative, three central lessons are drawn: (1) China should strive for cross compliance but in two steps. In the first step, arrangements for on-farm monitoring must be made, coupled with a pilot program of cross-compliance conditions for large farms in selected counties; in the second step, cross-compliance requirements must be introduced for all farmers, with additional funds for rural development in vulnerable areas. (2) Strong stakeholder commitment should be sought in the formulation as well as implementation of greening policies. (3) Monitoring of greening results should be harmonized and standardized across the country, with a limited number of indicators.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the policy discussion by comparing the agricultural greening measures in the EU (which was some 35 years ago in the same situation as China now) with the measures taken in China so far.