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The Role of Tunqin Guanxi in Building Rural Resilience in North China: A Case from Qinggang

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 February 2017

Yan Gao  and
Shailaja Fennell
Yan Gao*
Affiliation:
Institute of New Rural Development in Shanghai Jiao Tong University, the Key Laboratory of Urban Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture, People's Republic of China, and the department of land economy, University of Cambridge.
Shailaja Fennell
Affiliation:
Centre of Development Studies, and department of land economy, University of Cambridge. Email: ss141@cam.ac.uk.
*
Email: gao.yan@sjtu.edu.cn (corresponding author).
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Abstract

This paper explores the role of guanxi, particularly in its special form of tunqin, in building rural resilience in a poverty-stricken county in north China. The emphasis of this paper is placed on the nature and function of such guanxi. By presenting how guanxi is maintained, this paper also analyses the impact and effectiveness of local guanxi as a strategy to cope with poverty. Whereas tunqin guanxi appears to have built rural resilience in order to cushion villagers against life's upheavals, the maintenance of rural guanxi diminishes this resilience as scarce resources are spent on the exchange of cash gifts, thus aggravating local poverty.

摘要

本文以中国北方贫困县为例, 探讨了关系, 特别是屯亲这种特殊的关系形式, 对构建农村社会弹性修复力的作用。通过描述关系的维护, 文章同时还分析了关系作为抵制贫困的措施所产生的影响。本文的分析表明, 屯亲关系看似增强了村民抵抗生活变故的能力, 但是村民间为了维持关系而进行的礼金交换却更多地消耗了农村的稀缺资源, 从而削弱了其弹性修复力、加剧了当地的贫困状况。

Keywords

guanxitunqinrural povertynorth Chinarural resiliencecash gift exchange关系屯亲农村贫困农村弹性修复力礼金交换
Type
Section on Rural China
Information
The China Quarterly , Volume 229 , March 2017 , pp. 44 - 63
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Copyright
Copyright © SOAS University of London 2017 

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