China's New Socialist Countryside

Open-access edition: 10.6069/9780295804781

Based on ethnographic fieldwork, this case study examines the impact of economic development on ethnic minority people living along the upper-middle reaches of the Nu (Salween) River in Yunnan. In this highly mountainous, sparsely populated area live the Lisu, Nu, and Dulong (Drung) people, who until recently lived as subsistence farmers, relying on shifting cultivation, hunting, the collection of medicinal plants from surrounding forests, and small-scale logging to sustain their household economies. China's New Socialist Countryside explores how compulsory education, conservation programs, migration for work, and the expansion of social and economic infrastructure are not only transforming livelihoods, but also intensifying the Chinese Party-state’s capacity to integrate ethnic minorities into its political fabric and the national industrial economy.

Russell Harwood is a social researcher working in international development.

Foreword by Stevan Harrell

Acknowledgments

Equivalents and Abbreviations

Introduction

1. Life at the Periphery of the Chinese Party-State: An Introduction

2. Nature Reserves and Reforestation: The Impacts of Conservation Programs upon Livelihoods

3. All Is Not as It Appears: Education Reform

4. Migration from the Margins: Increasing Outward Migration for Work

Conclusion

Notes

Glossary of Chinese Terms

Bibliography

Index