英文摘要 |
The emergence of various peasants’ professional cooperatives in rural China since the year 2000 is a new and significant phenomenon. The Chinese central government has come to recognize and support this phenomenon of peasants protecting their interests through joining voluntary organizations, in 2007 passing a regulation encouraging the formation of peasants’ cooperatives.
How do societies regain the power of organization and ability to promote their interests in an authoritarian state like China? Moreover, if it is beneficial for peasants to participate in the professional cooperatives, why have only 10 percent of peasants nationwide sought membership of them?
It is argued in this paper that the will and ability of peasants to participate in the activities of cooperatives are conditioned by the social environment they encounter. The three major actors involved in the development of peasants’ professional cooperatives are peasants, the founders of cooperatives, and local cadres. How these actors interact and the resulting conflict of interests help to explain why peasants haven’t participated in the cooperatives as expected. |